I was living in Europe when New Labour swept in in the UK, ushering in the era of "Cool Britannia".  It was an exciting time, when whip smart young politicians who earnestly believed in good government were talking "Third Way" politics and there was more hope than fear of the dawn of the millennium.   



Well, that era has officially ended (the unofficial end was when Madge turned to gristle and Guy dumped her, of course) in what my Welsh Mum would call "an absolute shambolic mess".

While the US is backsliding to the Middle Ages, I'll admit I held out some small hope that our forebears across the pond would show the way to a more diverse and inclusive culture.  But with the Rupert Murdoch-backed Tories in power again (PM David Cameron may have cut a deal with Murdoch before the election, his director of communications, Andy Coulson, was editor of Murdoch's News of the World during the phone-hacking scandal, and Cameron seems eager to do Murdoch's bidding with regard to starving the BBC of funds) the backlash is the new status quo.

And it may foreshadow a Murdoch-manufactured "insurgency" here in November that could stymie social discourse and civil rights to an even greater degree than the current constipated crew in DC.  (I mean, if this and this and this and this represent "Hope and Change" I can hardly imagine the backlash.) 

Neither Murdoch's minions in his Tea Party movement nor conservatives in office these days will let facts get in the way of a — I dunno — racist rant?  Crazed, garbled delusional ramble?  Howling lie?   And with the Democrats too wobbly to repeal DADT (which nearly 80% of Americans want to see repealed) or ax the Bush tax cuts (which nearly 60% of Americans favor axing), you could be forgiven for wondering if casting our vote for one party or another is really just an elaborate but mostly meaningless formality. Maybe there is a Star Chamber, Illuminati, or Man Behind the Curtain after all.

Whatever the case, my faith in the "free press" is starting to fray. We seem to have entered the Misinformation Age in earnest. And even if "the truth is out there" a willfully misinformed electorate isn't interested in it. In an age where information is increasingly complex and there's lots more of it, Americans are becoming less educated, and those who are educated not as well-educated as our counterparts abroad.

All of which is bad news for both big- and little-d democrats, but great news for the oligarchs and robber barons!

As our public discourse dissolves into a Tea Party cacophony, with crazies like Glenn Beck and nonsense-mongers like Sarah Palin being paid by Murdoch to muddy the waters, don't expect much clarity on the establishment left.

The latest in Uncool Britannia?  The Office of National Statistics has just published a survey suggesting that only one per cent of British people are gay or lesbian. "The figure explodes the myth" the headline in the Daily Mail (owned by Viscount Rothermere, himself a staunch supporter of Cameron) screams — "long promoted by social experts and lobbyists — that the number is up to ten times higher than this."
 
Only problem is, gay dating sites Gaydar and GaydarGirls report a UK-based membership consisting of almost 7% of the population.  And the free market doesn't lie.  (Well, maybe about age and dick-size.)

That hasn't stopped those opposed to "the homosexual agenda" from crowing: “A large amount of public money has been spent on the basis of higher figures, which have turned out to be a lie.”

The government's hilarious new figures — fewer than 500,000 gays in Britain?  Really? Gives new credence to Davith's "the only gay in the village" shtick, dunnit?... 



— and it should be good news, right? A return to the days when the Brits euphemized any deviation from the hetero norm as "the French disease" (and the French fired back with " la maladie anglaise").

Unfortunately figures like these have social and political ramifications. And instead of the heady mix of cultures in a world of opportunity, we seem to be returning — willfully, as inconceivable as it seems — to a culture steeped in paranoia and fear.

So it's more important than ever to stand up and be counted. Because we can count on those who oppose equality to seize on numbers like these as proof that gays are not only a minority, they are a minuscule minority with a dangerously outsized influence, which just so happens to align perfectly with the idea of a nefarious Homosexual Agenda (that eerily echoes the "Jewish Conspiracy").

So boring.

Gays were a big part of Cool Britannia. It's looking awfully naff without 'em.