Struggling to find happiness, and cope with their sexuality years before it became ‘ok’ to speak about ‘Les Invisibles’ gives us an insight into the incredible lives of elderly gay people who lived in an era that denied celebrating such love.
Examining the last 50 years of lesbian and gay French life director Lifshitz gives us a range of individuals both coupled and single, wealthy and not so, and almost breaks the stereotypes portrayed as synonymous with LGB(T) culture…flamboyant, vain, socialites, transients.
The wonderful backdrop of the countryside and the inextricable links throughout the film between the connections to nature and each individual; the film’s opening image of the young bird getting helped out of its shell, being born almost offers an idea of symbolism between the difficulties these individuals faced rising from the shadows of society. To be equal, gay people needed to feel truly equal and the film shows us that may of the couples only felt this when they met people like themselves- indeed one (Therese) proclaimed she was “born at 40” and recalls a love affair at 77.
The experiences of being gay, lesbian or bisexual in southern France the film also gives us an understanding of the developing gay rights movement at that time, the prejudice and intolerance of the Catholic Church and the shocking realization that belonging to the LGB community was classed as a mental illness instead of a legitimate sexual orientation.
Battling hostile attitudes the film gives us a depth of understanding with a series of rather frank interviews. From the promiscuous goat herder who takes you on an almost guided tour of where he has had sexual conquests with both female and male individuals to others who were seemingly forced by society into being straight- agonizing at times and describing their youth as ‘wasted’, entering into marriage due to expectations placed upon them.
Throughout the frank and sometimes sad interviews it is apparent that all subjects had experienced marginalization and discrimination and had been influenced by constrictions of cultural norms and expectations.
The power to punish and bring shame upon such individuals who stepped outside these cultural norms shows us the relationship between power and knowledge- figures of authority who were able to use dominance and social control through societal institutions to influence discourse.
Theorist Michel Foucault suggested that relatively few individuals in society held this type of authority, but those that did had the power to directly influence and assert their power on others and in doing so coerced them into adopting the behavior and language of those in power- enabling these behaviors to become the social norm.
The problem with this type of behavior that was that few individuals would challenge the “norm” thus making it accepted within everyday living. Those that did challenge it sometimes lacked the power to get their message across into the public and media domains making it extremely difficult to change perceptions set by the “decision making group”.
The personal stories of Pierre and Yann, Bernard and Jacques, Pierrot, Therese, Christian, Monique, Elisabeth and Catherine expose the discourse of a culture that would show hatred, ignorance and a lack of understanding by what it meant to be part of the LGB(T) movement. Loving the ‘wrong’ person was illegal and could make you a criminal- punishable by prison sentence and categorized under a mental health disorder. Some therapists employed aversion therapy in order to cure ‘gayness’. Forced by the circumstances they found themselves in and having to fight for acceptance and defend their dignity many of the ‘invisible ones’ became reluctant activists.
At the age of 40 Therese’s story was one of courage, a figure of militantism, she ended her marriage and embraced a life of social activism fighting for gay rights and the right for women to have abortions. It was bold move in the 1960’s to stand up and fight for what you believed in and Therese was on the front line fighting to change government policy and social perception.
With others fighting for equal rights, public demonstration became a means for protesters to inform others of a need for change and the Civil Right Movement was born. Remaining relatively small in throughout 1950’s it was not until the end of the 1960’s we saw a rise in activism with reformist goals of ending segregation, and discrimination against LGB(T) people.
When we recall the memories of those who lived through the persecution of being gay back then, it is even harder to imagine living through such prejudice in small communities such as those documented throughout the film.
When we define community we have the understanding that it is a social group, a group of people any size who reside in a specific location, share government and have common similarities of cultural and historic heritage. Churches also played an integral part in many communities.
The discourse of such small communities led to many LGB(T) individuals feeling isolated and segregated, forced to fit in to the social norms of their neighborhoods and religions, left feeling crippled with guilt over their somewhat fraudulent marriages or relationships and just “getting on with it”- erasing who they really were.
The story of Christian, unable to accept who he was, deeply closeted by a strict Catholic upbringing echoes an age when being gay was not only illegal but sinful within the opinion of the church. The Bible describes homosexual behavior as detestable, and calls for the punishment for those involved (Leviticus 20:13) while the Catholic Church considered it an “objective disorder” “ordered towards an intrinsic evil” not sinful unless acted upon. It is glum to think how ones self-torment as a young boy- too afraid to enter the boy’s showers for fear of getting an erection has had a detrimental effect on intimate relationships later in his life.
In a society where the church and local governments had the power to influence people it was an almost impossible task to be openly gay- indeed the issue of sin and ‘the’ sin still remains within the Catholic Church. Where the LGB(T) communities were- and where they are now, is political to say the least. Scratch the surface and how much has actually changed?
While much progress has been made within the LGB(T) communities such as “being gay” partially decriminalized- it is still illegal to be gay in many countries and same sex people can still be outlawed and prosecuted with several countries still imposing the death penalty. This type of disciplining power to control one over another by making something “not normal” brings us back to the relationship between power and knowledge paramount to Foucault’s work.
“Knowledge linked to power, not only assumes the authority of ‘the truth’ but has the power to make itself true. All knowledge, once applied in the real world, has effects, and in that sense at least, ‘becomes true.’ Knowledge, once used to regulate the conduct of others, entails constraint, regulation and the disciplining of practice. Thus, ‘there is no power relation without the correlative constitution of a field of knowledge, nor any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time, power relations (Foucault 1977, 27)
This form of power to control and discipline by various methods strengthens Foucault’s suggestion that one will always have power over another- by categorizing people we form a binary position which in turn creates power and those that resist such discourse will be disciplined.
For those fortunate enough to find themselves in advanced democracies where social attitudes have changed mainly thanks to activism and education social discrimination still continues. Many individuals still report harassment, violence and abusive behavior which impacts on their personal lives with intersectionality of sexuality and inequality a recurring subject.
The marginalization of the LGB(T) community can leave individuals with low self-confidence, self-esteem and in some cases psychological problems which can contribute to self-imposed anonymity and isolation. Persons that experience this marginalization are more likely to be denied opportunities and have limited access to education and health.
When we relate this to the older LGB(T) community we can see that not much has changed. Having fought a lifetime of discrimination and oppression they now find themselves aging across the globe into inequality with services struggling to meet their needs.
Despite acts coming into force such as the Sexual Offences Act (1967) which was enacted to provide legislation to protect the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals and more recently the Civil Partnership Act (2004) which gave same sex people the same rights as heterosexual couples, the LGB(T) community still struggles with stigma and discrimination, with older people also facing additional discrimination due to age.
Studies have shown that many older LGB(T) individuals live alone and were less likely to have had children. The experiences they faced because of their sexuality has left LGB(T) less likely to access the social care that they may need in later life. With the majority of this social care and support provided by partners or children it can leave older LGB(T) individuals vulnerable and without the support they need.
It can also be a challenge for older people to find retirement housing or homes. Having faced historic oppression many have a fear that this will continue with service providers and fellow residents.
The Equality Act which was published in 2007 and revamped in 2010 making discrimination against protected characteristics outlined within the act illegal does offer differing levels of protection for LGBTQI people but the major problem with the act is that it is very rarely acted upon.
Gay people on a daily basis are still subject to hostile comments. When heterosexual people show affection in public it is seen as perfectly ok but when same sex couples do the same they are quite often vilified.
With gay people three times more likely to commit suicide the act as good as it may seem does little to help. With many not understanding the content within the act more needs to be done to educate schools, colleges, workplaces and parents about the importance of discrimination and what it really means for an individual to be discriminated against.
Discrimination has and always will exist or such acts would not be needed to protect those most vulnerable. Indeed in the film we hear stories of such discrimination within communities and neighborhoods but are the LGB(T) community facing new risks in today’s society?
With technology moving forward and the increased use of social media platforms LGB(T) individuals can now be bullied at discriminated against at all times in any location. With computers in just about every home in the globe this has given people access to technology at an alarming level.
While social and online media can do much to educate and teach people and has given a greater voice to LGB(T) communities in which hundreds of millions of people can now be targeted both in tolerant and intolerant countries there is a much darker side that is emerging which can be almost impossible to escape from.