Paris 2024: I can understand the hurt, but is drag visibility the real problem?

A tableau included in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony featuring feisty drag artists around a table bearing some resemblance to Leonardo Da Vinci’s last supper scene has provoked the outrage of Catholic bishops including our own Charles Scicluna.

According to the show’s artistic creators, the scene was inspired by another painting representing a pagan bacchanalia rather than Christ’s last supper.

The incident has also provided ammunition to the culture wars being waged by the far right. Figures like X boss and Donald Trump supporter, Elon Musk, described the scene as “extremely disrespectful to Christians”.

It also prompted far-right politician Marion Maréchal to address “ the Christians of the world, insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper”, to let them “know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation”.

Many of those who expressed their outrage were reacting to a screen shot isolated from its context in what was essentially a visual spectacle which featured pop icons like Lady Gaga and which had a cabaret vibe. But it was this still image which went viral.

The artists behind the representation insist that they had no intention to offend anyone by a representation inspired by Europe’s classical Greco-Roman heritage but its detractors insist that a central tenet of their faith; the eucharist has been vilified.

One cannot dispute that irrespective of intentions, some people felt genuinely hurt on a personal level simply because they associate the last supper with the eucharist which is the most important rite for Catholics. They also had every right to express their feelings. The organisers even apologised for unintentionally hurting these feelings.

Personally, I have no problem with mocking religious symbols but clearly as the organisers themselves recognise this was not appropriate for the opening of a sports event.

The problem in this case was not this expression of personal hurt but the way it was blown out of any proportion by the far right which used it as ammunition in a culture war against what they depict as a world-wide liberal conspiracy aimed at uprooting people from their Christian heritage.

They suggest that the French government  was deliberately engaged in a global conspiracy, and the Olympics provided it with the pretext to mock Christians and their faith.

Free speech only when it is convenient?

Bizarrely, while the likes of Elon Musk advocate free speech for conspiracy theorists, incels and bigots, they are the first to attack cultural manifestations which they condemn for being woke.

This suggests that in the far right universe while spewing hate is ok, celebrating diversity is not.

Sure, some segments of the left also harbour their own contradictions, especially when they are over sensitive to the concerns of religious minorities whose religious leaders are unable to grasp the meaning of irony and irreverence.

I am for example baffled by the lack of solidarity shown towards literary figures like Salman Rushdie whose 33-year-old fatwa came back to haunt him in 2022 when he narrowly survived an assassination attempt. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander.

But the far right has to choose between allying itself with fundamentalists of all stripes in defending all religions from mockery or to defend free speech everywhere.

Moreover, some attacks on Islam, like burning the Koran in public are more akin to violent manifestation of islamophobia aimed at stirring social unrest than artistic expression.

Moreover, one cannot accuse the French government which even bans the wearing of the hijab in public spaces for being soft on Islam.

Once again, the far right in its selective defence of western heritage is usurping Christian symbols to deploy them as weapons in their bid to impose a new post liberal order.

They may well end up using the cross as their new swastika in promoting a nationalist ideology which is so alien to Christian universalism based on the dignity of each human being.  

Scicluna’s missed opportunity

In this aspect I would distinguish between the reaction of the far right and that of  Catholic leaders like our Bishop Charles Scicluna who rushed to express “distress and disappointment” for what he described as  “gratuitous insult” to the Eucharist. 

But while one can understand Scicluna’s need to give voice to a widespread sentiment among his flock, he also missed a golden opportunity; that of rising above puerile culture wars, and show the self confidence of people who can take irony and ridicule while focusing on the existential threats facing humanity; things like inequality, poverty and climate change. In fact, the ability to co-exist with a secular culture after centuries of repression should be a mark of pride for intellectually astute Catholics like Scicluna.

Is LGBTQ+  visibility the real problem?

But this brings me to another reflection, why has this particular episode attracted world-wide controversy unlike previous representation of the Last Supper, which has been depicted in all kinds of bizarre ways on t-shirts, posters and TV shows ranging from the Sopranos to the Simpsons. Is it simply because a drag queen was featured in the tableau?  Would anyone have said anything if the drag queens were absent from the tableau?

Does this in itself suggest that for its detractors some bodies are less equal and more offensive than others?   

My hunch was confirmed by an article in the Vatican’s newspaper Avvenire which said: “Don’t take us for moralistic bigots, but what’s the point of having to experience every single global event, even a sporting one, as if it were a Gay Pride?” Perhaps those hailing from an institution which has inflicted so much pain in the past, should be the last to ask these questions. The idea that a historically repressed and excluded community is now on the verge of taking over the world is ludicrous. Moreover, those who believe so are themselves a reminder of the prejudice LGBTQ people still face in everyday life where their visibility is still questioned.

They seem to suggest that what really annoys them is that LGBTQ+ people are for once on the world stage. Worryingly, I cannot but suspect that some of those objecting to the tableau want to turn back the clock to a time when certain bodies lived in fear and out of sight.

Some may also ask what has drag culture to do with the Olympics and the humanistic values which the show conveyed? 

The answer to that is that the representation itself is rooted in a cabaret culture which has an important place in French and European history.

France itself is the home of the cabaret club called Madame Arthur, founded in 1946 which is also one of the world’s oldest continually running LGBTQ+ theatres. The club which opened its doors in the aftermath of the Nazi holocaust, whose victims included thousands of LGBTQ+ people, is currently experiencing a massive renaissance.

“Drag is not just a pastime; for many minority French communities who feel alienated over tensions arising from divisive politics and scars from the anti-gay marriage protests a decade ago, it’s a statement of defiance. Many gay black and Arab youths — especially those from Paris’ less affluent and religiously conservative suburbs — and others who feel a sense of disconnect with French society find voguing and drag events safe places where their identities can be expressed without fear of reprisal” notes journalist Thomas Adamson in an article penned for the National Catholic Reporter.

And while to some extent I can empathise with Catholics who feel hurt by what they perceived as the depiction of a sacrament they hold dear in a hedonistic cabaret scene, I am still troubled by another question; why are they offended by the presence of a drag queen in the first place? Is there anything sacrilegious in cross dressing and in blurring gender identities?

I cannot but feel that ultimately all this boils down to an aversion for an inclusive society in which identities, which till a few decades ago where violently crushed, are now celebrated.