Narrow-Minded Xenophobe

What is the matter with right-wing gay men? Why do so many of them turn out to be stupid, narrow-minded, sexist and bigoted twats?

Not all, mind you, because I know quite a few conservative gay men who are perfectly sane and pleasant to be around, although they have this strange preoccupation with finances, taxes and "the holy market" and these always has to be given priority before the welfare of people (my words, not theirs).

Tobias Billström, photo by Pawel Flota

Meet Tobias Billström, Sweden's Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy, the only out gay person in the Swedish government and a member of the right-wing party Moderaterna ("The Moderates" [sic!]).

Tobias Billström has for a long time called unwanted attention to himself by making stupid and ridiculous statements.

Lately he in an interview, when arguing about who the people are that are hiding undocumented immigrants in Sweden, said "Sometimes we are given the impression that the undocumented person who is hidden lives with a nice blond Swedish lady in her 50-60's who wants to help. But that is not the case. Most people live with their compatriots who are neither blond, nor blue-eyed."

Today he was - once again - forced to retract and apologize for that xenophobic statement. 

In my mind his apology should not and cannot save him, because I believe his statement expressed his true opinion in the matter. Tobias Billström is an embarrassment for Sweden, the Swedish government, his party and for himself. The sooner the Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt realizes and acknowledges this and fires Tobias Billström, the better.

With the Sweden Democratic Party getting seats in the Swedish parliament in the last election and the growing xenophobic sentiments in our country we cannot afford to have a minister that expresses inexcusable opinions that should not be heard from a politician claiming to support a democratic and civilized society and governance.

#dethärärmittland

The hashtag in the title is used in thousands of tweets in the Swedish parts of Twitter today. Translated to English it would read #thisismycountry. I will go into the reason for the flood of tweets with that hashtag but first let me leave this message.

Bock, 42 y.o., laird, born in Lund, Sweden, by ethnic Swedish parents, moved to Lahore, Pakistan when I was 11 months old. I returned to Sweden when I was 13 y.o. as a blonde, fair skinned, ethnic Swede speaking better Swedish than those around me who had never left the country. When I "returned to my homeland" I was in effect an immigrant who spoke English and Punjabi as fluently as I spoke Swedish. I did not understand Swedish culture, society and norms of behaviour. In every way, except for my ethnicity and command of the language, I was culturally Pakistani and hated being dumped in this terrible and cold country by my well meaning parents. Not until I was 20 y.o. did I feel that #thisismycountry.
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The reason for the flood of tweets today on that theme was the unveiling yesterday of a film taped on a cellphone belonging to the Sweden Democratic Party parliamentarian Kent Ekeroth, the party´s legal policy spokesman, almost two and a half years ago. In the film we see Mr. Ekeroth and two of his party colleagues in a confrontation outside a McDonald's restaurant in Stockholm.

One of the colleagues, Erik Almqvist, the party´s financial policy spokesman, is seen telling Soran Ismael, a Swedish comedian of Kurdish extraction, why he cannot claim Sweden as his country. After that Mr. Almqvist moved on to name calling of a xenophobic nature and to calling a young woman who tried to interrupt the confrontation "the little whore".

The cellphone film has forced Mr. Almqvist to step down from all his political offices within the party, while Mr Ekeroth has declared that he is taking a timeout after his film showed the three parliamentarians arming themselves with iron rods.
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Update: The best tweet on the subject that I have found so far. Kurdo Baksi is a Swedish social commentator, journalist and author of Kurdish extraction.

Translation to English:
"My name is Kurdo Baksi and I am 47 y.o. I love eating kebab with lingonberries and take long lonely walks in the forest #thisismycountry"

New Label, Same Nasty Content

The Sweden Democrats has today decided to change what they call their political ideology from "democratic nationalism" to "social conservatism".

The change is yet another step in the party´s attempts to clean up their act and become more appealing to the Swedish electorate by trying to cover up that the the party´s fundamental political perspective is xenophobic, anti-Islamic, antisemitic and anti anything whatsoever that is not Swedish according to their definition.

The party continues to work with a double set of political thought and language. One to hold the party members together and another on the public scene. Unfortunately for them - but luckily for the rest of us - sometimes leading members of the party cannot distinguish between the linguistic levels, which has lead to a series of rather comical mishaps and ensuing exclusions from the party due to racist comments posted on the internet.

According to the newly adopted policy program, the best thing for Sweden is if as many as possible have a "Swedish identity". The Swedish identity is defined as speaking fluent Swedish, living in accordance with Swedish culture and feeling more loyalty to Sweden than to any other country. Consequently, the party's main issue is still massively reduced immigration and, whatever they may say publicly, their main argument is still  that it is reprehensible to mix ethnic groups, religions and cultures.

Pull Your Thumbs Out, Beatrice!

A gunman has been prowling the streets of Malmö, the third largest town in Sweden, at night lately and has been shooting at immigrants. At least 15-18 immigrants are believed to have been shot by this particular person.

The Attorney General of Sweden, Mrs. Beatice Ask, claims "she is following the situation closely" and that she is "concerned".

Today the Mayor of Malmö, Mr. Ilmar Reepalu, in an opinion piece in Sydsvenskan - "Malmö has had enough" - made an excellent analysis and summary of the situation and placed the responsibility firmly and squarely on Mrs. Asks shoulders. Mayor Reepalu  concludes, in his article, that the rule of law cannot make exceptions for certain towns.The people of Malmö have had enough now and must get their sence of security back.

In my opinion Mayor Reepalu makes a a brilliant analysis and a splendid summary of the situation. (Actually I am a bit surprised, because I never agreed with the bugger before...)

The Sweden Democrat Party, the xenophobic option in Swedish politics, has of course already drawn its premature and simplified conclusions. which most of us can completely ignore because they are not based on any analysis, but on their ingrained hatred and contempt for everyone and everything that is not like themselves and think as they do.

It is time to step ut to the plate, Mrs. Ask, and start taking some action. As my Ars always said; 
"Actions speak louder than words!"

"Oopps, did we just blow our cover?"

Photo by Anders Wiklund/Scanpix

"The racism that says that you are not worth as much as I am, that you will not have the same rights as me and you are not worth a life of freedom, and that for a single reason - that we happen to be born in different parts of our world - it is not worthy of a democracy like ours to make a difference between people" is what the Bishop of Stockholm Eva Brunne said today at the inauguration ceremony of the Swedish Riksdag (The Swedish parliament). 

At this point all the representatives from the Sweden Democrats rose from their seats in the Storkyrkan (The Great Church) in Stockholm and marched out in protest with all their entourage.

If someone leaves a church, which they have voluntarily entered into, because someone says what the bishop said, they have stamped themselves as xenophobes. 

I wonder if that is really what the Sweden Democrats had intended, but I am happy they did. 

Ahhhhhhhhh it is glorious and a true delight to be alive when one can witness moments like this! 

The dear bishop may need a speech writer - thats one of the worst sentences I have ever seen - but I share her sentiments with all my being, even if I am an atheist. 

Sydsvenskan