Adhamh Roland

So I twittered a bit about him last night and brought him up in the preceeding post, but just in case you missed it I just thought I'd collect all the info I could find about this radical queer folk artist in one good post:

Last.fm

Riot Folk collective

Myspace

And without further ado, I think we're going to make the lyrics for "Rich, White & Gay" count as today's poetry since I've been slacking.

Note: Liberal use of the word tranny & fag and other such slurs in the song (even if in a tongue & cheek way), just a fair warning if you'd like not to see or hear that.

[Ed: Slightly edited by moi...slightly.]

Rich, White, and Gay

While mainstream gays and lesbians are prioritizing
things like marriage and adoption, the rest of the community is left to fend
for ourselves against racism, classism, transphobia, ablism and more. queer
liberation means liberation for all, while gay assimilation means just
that—assimilation. this song was inspired by the anthology, that’s revolting:
queer strategies on resisting assimilation.

capo 3rd fret

well, what do you
see of the gay mainstream?
queer eye, queer folk—it’s queer t.v.
and you say
‘oh my goodness look how far we’ve come’
but that all depends on where you’re
coming from

‘cause when you say ‘we’
i think i know what you
mean
it’s that rich, white, gay and lesbian
so called community

it’s the
folks who wanna end housing discrimination
but ban youth shelters in the name
of beautification
who think their partners should have health coverage to
share
but don’t give a damn ‘bout universal health care
who fight in the
courts for tougher hate crimes
but think the racist system is working just
fine
‘cause it’s o.k. to haul off to jail the homeless and the youth
people
of color, trannys, sex workers too
as long as it’s not people like you
then
you can maintain you’re agenda
that benefits the few

it’s a gay mainstream
that votes anti-poor
as long as civil unions are accounted for
they don’t
seem to see their obvious connections
between race, class, ability, and gender
expression
they don’t think of the black drag queens that battled for us
all
hurlin’ high heels at the cops outside of stonewall
when they vote to put
more pigs on the streets
and never hear about the people that they
beat

‘cause the human rights campaign is sponsored by nike and coors
who
violate everybody’s rights but yours
they claim to advocate for queers and
trannys
and then don’t write them into nondiscrimination policies
they even
endorsed a republican candidate
thanks h.r.c. for bein’ my advocate

it’s
the log cabins, the don’t ask don’t tell
it’s consumerisms choice demographic
to sell
it’s climbin’ up the ladder leavin’ everyone behind
it’s the best
pecking order capitalism can find
it’s the upwardly mobile that want to
marry
it’s the strict butch/femme dichotomy
it’s queers who equate true
equality
with straight privilege like shows on t.v.
as long as the butt of
the jokes are still based on misogyny
and the lead roles are straight in
reality
it’s a slap in the face to kioshi
and every other
liberation warrior since the sixties
and anyone ever arrested on your
street
cuz they might lower the value of your property

when
you say we
i think i know what you mean
it’s that rich, white, gay and
lesbian so called....
well it’s not the trannys, it’s not the dykes
it’s not
anyone who’s not white
it’s not the whores, not the fags
not asians, latinas,
natives, or blacks
it’s not the homeless, the deaf or blind
it’s not fake
cocks or chests that bind
it’s not the fat folks, or the freaks
or any
combination of any sort of identity

except that rich, white, gay
that rich,
white, and gay
that rich, white, gay ...
...and sometimes lesbian
so called
community