It's more than Homophobia - it's Bigotry

Tamara Iveri in Masked Ball photo: Prudence Upton

The news of Georgian opera singer Tamara Iveri's homophobic Facebook rant has gone viral, well outside of the opera and classical music community. But was her rant just homophobic, or something more?

In May 2013, Iveri posted a letter to Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili,condemning the Western influence of homosexuality and comparing gays and lesbians to feces. Once media outlets began to pick up on what she had said, she took down the post and said that her husband, a "deeply religious man," had been using her Facebook under her name and his views do not reflect her own. 

Oh really. "It's not mine" has been used by everyone ever caught red-handed in the history of the universe. Caught with illegal drugs? "It's not mine." Posted something offensive and get called out on it? "It wasn't me, someone else used my account." It's barely a believable excuse, but -

If you don't think that gay people should be compared to feces, why would you marry someone who does? Are basic civil rights an area of compromise in a relationship? Whether or not you are a part of that marginalized group, do you not care about their plight? Which brings me to my point:

This kind of hate speech isn't homophobia. In today's world of near-constant internet access, ignorance is not an acceptable answer. As adults, we have a duty to our society to read well-reasoned and researched information and decide for ourselves. I hardly think that Iveri is simply uninformed - her letter to the president had very clear and conscious thought, concocted by strong opinions on homosexuality.

When someone has opinions like this, it isn't homophobia. It isn't because they just "don't get it," or because they aren't familiar with it. It is bigotry, plain and simple. When a person can revile another group of people with words dripping with vitriol and disdain, they are making a conscious choice to put themselves in a position of power over marginalized groups. When you "other" a set of people, you become unable to see them as multi-faceted people, and instead sort them into "good" and "bad."

When you sort people into "good" and "bad," it becomes much easier to strip them of their rights. Throughout history, we can see that this kind of inflammatory speech and negative stereotypes precede every case of genocide and civil rights violation. "They" are the reason for the dismantling of the family unit. "They" are trying to take my free speech away by boycotting my business or giving me bad reviews. "They" are dirty and disgusting. Suddenly every problem in society is that group's fault - how many times have we seen natural disasters blamed on LGBT people demanding their rights?

The Paris Opera has already cancelled her performances with them, and I am hoping that Opera Australia follows suit. We cannot allow this kind of hatred to be acceptable on an international platform.

(For anyone who might want to start screaming, "FREE SPEECH," needs to realize that Iveri is A, not American, and B, not being punished by the government for her remarks. In a capitalist society, your employer has every right to remove you if you become a liability, and this is even more understandable in the arts.)