Our bodies are under constant attack from outside forces.  It’s because our bodies are a self-sufficient habitat for our cells to survive in.  Bacteria are living organisms, like our own cells, that would love to benefit from the rich environment our bodies could provide them.  But the crucial difference is that our cells are working toward a common goal of assured survival, where bacteria and viruses only seek to exploit as much as they can without care for whether they destroy the system that sustains them.  They count on the fact that they will find another system to exploit, once they have used this one up.

Of course I’m not writing about this to dole out a biology lesson, I’m writing about it because I see it as a microcosm for what happens in society, and in our community.  The battle between our collaborating cells and opportunistic outsiders merely demonstrates the most basic definition of "good" and "evil".  Both are valid approaches to survival but, one seeks the synergy of banding with its peers for mutual benefit, while the other seeks only to satisfy itself with no regard for the damage it causes others of its kind.

It’s often said that good and evil cannot survive without one another, and I think that is true.  In the context of our bodies, certain disease-causing intruders would not survive without us to "steal a meal" from, and then unwittingly pass along to their next victim.  Meanwhile, unchecked prosperity would cause our numbers to grow too rapidly, and eventually we would exhaust our resources, collapsing the greater system that sustains us.

While these forces are working against one another, neither can ever win.  Even if one succeeds in completely wiping out the other, the balance will restore itself: evil organisms will be forced to band together to survive when there is nothing else to exploit, and good organisms will turn on each other when there aren’t enough resources for everyone to survive.  It’s a balance that cannot be overturned no matter how hard we try.

Given that our existence is only possible because of the collaboration of our smaller parts, it seems somewhat hypocritical that people would behave in any manner but good.  But apparently, balance is needed at every level of the totem pole.  So the real reason to fight for either side is not to win, but rather to ensure your means of survival maintains the upper hand for as long as you’re around.

In one of my University courses, our class was shown a computer animated simulation of the human immune system responding to a virus.  The virus would latch onto blood cells and infect them, destroying them in the process of replicating itself.  The newly created virus particles would explode from the used up cell and proceed to latch on to the next nearest blood cells to repeat the process.  It was shocking to me how far the virus was able to get before the immune system was even aware that the body was under attack.  Even when the response finally came and the white blood cells began rounding up the viruses, it seemed very sluggish and imperfect.  Several virus particles were missed, but the immune system was able to react much quicker when they began to resurge, and eventually the threat was eliminated and everything returned to normal.

Seeing this irked me on some level – especially the time it took for the chemical signals to propagate before anything started to happen to combat the invaders.  But I realized that while the visualization was designed to let us see exactly what the viruses were doing, the cells in the simulation were completely blind and moving in random directions, only able to react when they happened to run into a virus, and only able to trigger a reaction when enough of them put out the same signal at the same time.

It’s very much like what I’ve seen happen in the LGBT community when good people have fallen victim to scams and other dishonest means of making off with their wealth and wellbeing.  Here the viruses are ideas, fabricated to trick us into betraying ourselves and our peers so that "evil" can take advantage of us.  The damage depends on how quickly they are able to identify a threat, and how soon they can raise the alarm.  Even with proper warning, some are still reluctant to react until they have seen evidence with their own eyes.  When enough people wise up and take action to block malicious things from happening, the perpetrators often (but not always) have no choice but to abandon their efforts and move on to somewhere not yet "immune" to them.

The single most crucial thing that you, as a "good" being, need to realize is that your strength is in your numbers, and "evil" thrives on you when you are isolated.  They will purposely try to divide you and isolate you from others that are looking out for your wellbeing, until you are vulnerable enough for them to begin their work on you.  Most of us are no match for them one on one, and once they get a hold, you’re at their mercy.

Perhaps they are just looking to get something from you, and once they’ve succeeded, they spit you back out again.  Perhaps they’ll prepare their future prey by planting a seed and throwing you back to your peers so that you will do the work of spreading their poison for them.  Sometimes they might even manipulate you to turn your back on your allies, keeping you isolated from any voices that may be trying to warn you, leaving you vulnerable and ready to bend to their will whenever they need you.

Then there’s the opposite – good people who, through unfortunate circumstance, become so grizzled and twisted that they begin taking on the traits of their attackers.  They constantly see threats in others, regardless of whether they are actually "evil" or not.  They draw others in to their defense, poisoning them with the same hate and fear that grips them, causing divisions amongst good people as they fight an imaginary battle.  When a real threat comes along, it is delighted to find that part the work to make us vulnerable is already done.

The most effective weapon against "evil" that we have in our arsenal is open, honest communication amongst a wide variety of people.  Individually we can be fooled by the crafty manipulations of malice and mischief, and even isolated groups can become pockets for their poison.  But when we all start talking, comparing notes, sharing experiences, we can see the vulnerabilities in ourselves that are being exploited.  Then we can work toward closing those gaps in our armour, becoming stronger as individuals, stronger as a community, stronger as a society.

However, like our own immune system, there has to be a time when we step down our defenses, cast away our armour, and return to the way we were before we were attacked.  If we close our armour too tightly and never let it go, then we succeed in isolating ourselves once again.

Several years ago, Steve and I were shopping at the Safeway on 4th Street SW to pick up some caffeinated drinks to keep us going during our approaching press deadline.  A little boy and his mother were walking toward us and we overheard him loudly saying, "Mommy, we need to buy some more pop!"  Then he proceeded to spell it: "P-O-O-P".  "That’s not how you spell pop," the mother laughed, leaving each of us struggling to keep a serious face until they were out of earshot.

Recently our 3 year old nephew Tristan accidentally stumbled upon an adult euphemism.  He and his mother were passing through the women’s locker room at a swimming pool, and he was ruminating over a series of stuffed animals that he was aiming to collect.  His mom had already bought him the moose and bear, but as they passed by the showers, occupied by several women, he loudly declared, "Mommy, I want a beaver!"

Last month at the Calgary Stampede, we sat down for dinner in the very crowded basement of the Big Four building.  Limited seating made it necessary for us to share a table with a family of four, and though we tried to keep to ourselves, it was a little bit difficult to ignore them as their little girl frantically howled about how her chicken burger tasted.  Steve and I tried not to roll our eyes, and indeed the parents also seemed to conclude she was just being fussy.  They encouraged her to keep eating, offered her more ketchup, and tried to find some compromise to get her to eat her dinner.  Yet still she continued crying and screaming after each bite, refusing to eat any more.  "Do you want a free kid for the evening," the father mumbled to us jokingly.

Finally the father decided to try the chicken burger himself, to see what was so bad, and he just about choked.  "It’s covered in chilli sauce!" he reported in surprise.  The mother turned to the little boy and asked, "Why did you give me chilli sauce for your sister’s burger?"  The little boy pleaded, "It was a red packet, I thought it was ketchup!"  All of us at the table laughed, including the little girl who seemed relieved that her parents believed her now.

Steve and I continued to chuckle as we parted company with them, especially about how wickedly ironic it was that they had kept offering her more "ketchup"!

This seems to be the summer of wet Drag Queens.  After the wildly popular dunk tank at ARGRA last month, the ISCCA brought us yet another way to douse them down.  I attended Drag Queen H2O at the Backlot last month, a little fearful for the wellbeing of my camera.  It was a very difficult task timing my shots to capture water balloons bursting and buckets of water flying...made more difficult by the fact that I was killing myself laughing!  Beware, any water balloons that don’t pop when they land will often get tossed back at the audience member who was responsible.  And please try to avoid hitting the dish on top of the patio gas heater – that poor thing got dented to hell from all the misfired water balloons!

Congratulations to Club Sapien who celebrated their first anniversary just recently at the end of July.  Counting more than 10 bouquets from businesses and community groups in the city, and a surprisingly busy night for a summer long weekend, I take it they were feeling the love.  Junction in Edmonton also is celebrating their first anniversary this upcoming 13th of August.

The Calgary Eagle is having to grin and bear some tough circumstance due to the East Village revitalization project.  Starting in June, the front of the building and the parking lot area on the side have been inaccessible due to the construction.  The Calgary Eagle continues to operate, however patrons are required to come in through the back entrance until the construction is complete.  The parking lot behind the Calgary Eagle is maintained by the Calgary Parking Authority, so payment is required when leaving your vehicle in the lot.  The lot can be accessed from 4th Street, however the corner of 4th Street and 8th avenue may be blocked due to construction.  If that is the case, you should be able to take a detour around the block to the east to get to the other side.

There are several exciting events coming up this month.  To name a few that we’re sponsoring:

For more information on these events, look for their ads in this issue.  Or in the case of Calgary Pride, check out the Pride Guide booklet inserted into copies of this edition!