On the Subject of Freedom

What does freedom mean to me?

My first thought was the intense impression George Michael’s “Freedom ’90” left on me as I was growing up. Hence the retro graphic.

Love is love, and luv is luv.

AND it’s a gorgeous video, with a great message, packaged in very glam style, intentionally omitting George Michael in all but sound. His iconic leather jacket, which viewers see seemingly doused in gasoline and burning, never appeared in the public eye again, after the video aired– at least, insofar as I’m aware.

Multiple models, both male and female, lip sync his lyrics, but he refuses to pose for the camera this time.

It was a pretty huge deal when George Michael came out publicly. It seems like LGBT+ celebrities these days still create quite a lot of buzz with the media, and social media, when they come out these days. Perhaps in some ways, it’s becoming more normalized, but there is also (sadly) a movement against both women’s and LGBT+ rights (and against reproductive rights, and other fundamental equalities and freedoms).

Within roughly the same era as the height of his fame, my high school didn’t allow same sex couples to buy prom tickets together. You had to fake it by pairing off with someone else, then swap places at the dance. And you couldn’t buy single tickets, either, to minimize the odds of gay couples being present there, publicly.

Mind you this wasn’t in the Bible belt, or in a small town. This was in an outer suburb of Chicago, with a sizeable population.

At least we had Chicago. A couple times, we drove into the city to see Boystown. My friends and I even attended one or maybe more sessions of an anonymous support group for gay/bi/questioning teens. You had to sign in, but they had you use the first two letters of your first name and first two letters of your last name, for privacy. My high school bestie was so proud that her abbreviated sign-in spelled out “Very.”

But yes, George Michael, and other figures like him, provided inspiration and hope via MTV.

These days, I find a lot of similar sustenance in poetry. I’ve read two collections by Andrea Gibson and adored both. Today, I checked out Paul Tran’s All the Flowers Kneeling. It’s awesome the way words can reach across time and space, and alter the trajectory of a life, by affirming that we are none of us alone.

Freedom is about self-expression. The ability to live and love as you please, so long as you’re not causing harm to anyone else. It’s as necessary for creativity, and joy, as oxygen is to the brain.

There’s a concerning amount of injustice in the world at the moment. I suppose perhaps there always has been. I just hope the clock doesn’t continue to roll back on the rights so many fought so hard to secure.

Freedom isn’t without cost, but it is a most worthy pursuit. Endless gratitude to everyone out there fighting for it, and for those who came before me and paved the way.