The Economist - USA (2020-08-08)

10 Leaders TheEconomistAugust 8th 2020

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hiliplarkinwasonlyhalf-wrong.Sexdidn’tbeginin1963,

asthepoetjoked;fora heftyminorityofBritonsitwasfour

yearslater—legally,atleast—whenParliamentnixedthelaw

prohibitinggaysex.Inthisageofrainbowflagsandpridepa-

rades,it iseasytoforgethowfewlesbiansandgayscouldbeopen

abouttheirsexualityuntilrelativelyrecently.Onewhowas,the

journalistPeterWildeblood,was“nomoreproudofmycondi-

tionthanI wouldbeofhavinga glasseyeora harelip”.Twoyears

afterdecriminalisationinEnglandandWales,theStonewallri-

otsinNewYorkpopulariseda termforthis:comingout.

Sincethen,theclosethasburstopen.Actors

andthecharacterstheyplayareopenlygay.Leo

Varadkar,primeministerofIrelanduntilJune,

hasa malepartner;Serbia’sprimeministerisa

lesbian,asarethemayorsofChicagoandBo-

gotá,theColombiancapital.Yetcomingoutre-

mainsa pivotalmomentofself-recognitionfor

gayteenagers.Thankstotheinternet,theyare

findingthemeansandtheconfidencetodosoin

moreplacesthaneverbefore,andata youngeragethaninprevi-

ousgenerations(seeInternationalsection).

Yetthereareplentyofplaceswherebeinggayremainstaboo.

Eveninliberalcountries,gaymembersofsomereligiousand

ethnicminoritieshavea toughtime.Gaysexisstillillegalin 68

countries,andpunishablebydeathina dozen.Lesbian,gay,bi-

sexualandtransgender(lgbt) folkaresubjecttoextra-judicial

violenceinmanyplaces,frombeatingsinbarstothegang-rape

oflesbiansbymenwhoimaginethatthismight,astheyseeit,

“cure”theirsinfulorientation.It wouldberecklesstoencourage

peopletocomeoutwheretodosoistocourtinjuryordeath.In

allbutthemostrepressiveplaces,though,peopleareopening

up.TheInternationalLesbian,Gay,Bisexual,TransandIntersex

Association,a lobbygroup,hasmembersin 164 countries.Pride

paradesmarchinChina,ParaguayandtheFaroeIslands.

Urbanisationhelps.Inbigcities,everytribehasitsplace.You

canplaybingowithdragqueensinMoscow,danceingaybarsin

Nairobi(wheregaysexisstillillegal)andusegayhook-upapps

inBeijing(whereuntil 1997 gaypeoplewerejailedfor“hooligan-

ism”).Eveninremoteplaces,smartphoneshelpteenagersdis-

coverthattheyarenotalone.Andthatknow-

ledgegivesmoreofthemthecouragetocome

out.In 1985 barelya fifthofAmericanshadan

openly gayrelative,friendorcolleague.Now

87%saytheyknowsomeonegayorlesbian.

lgbtpeoplecomingoutbringstheextraad-

vantageofspreadingtolerance.Notalways,of

course.Butscepticsandbigotsarelikeliestto

change their minds when they realise that

someonetheyknowisgay.Familiarityrevealsthathomosexuals

arejustashuman—andhumdrum—asheterosexuals.Itiseasy

todemonisetheimaginarygaypeopledepictedina brimstone

sermon;butmuchhardertofearthelesbianactuariesnextdoor,

orthegaydadscheeringtheirdaughter’ssoftballteam.Pridepa-

rades,withtheirloudfloatsandcopiousflesh,arelotsoffun.But

learningthata sober-suitedcolleaguehappenstobegayismore

likelytowinovera conservative.OneofthefoundersofStone-

wall,a Britishgay-rightscharity,saidthenameinitiallyhelped

securemeetingswithgovernmentministers.Togays,it meanta

The world comes out

Peoplearegrowingmoretolerant.Butinsomecountriescomingoutisstilltoorisky

Gayrights

worldneedstothinkofthemasaninsurancepolicy.Research

suggeststhatif tenormorevaccinesareindevelopment,thereis

a 90%chanceoffindingonewhichworks.Onceoneofthesecan-

didatesprovestobeeffective,billionsofdoseswillneedtobe

distributedquickly.Butitisimpossibletoknowinadvance

whichcandidatewillsucceed.Governmentsshouldtherefore

helppharmaceuticalfirmsproducevastquantitiesofa rangeof

differentvaccines—ideally,numberingtensof

billionsofdosesinall—longbeforeregulatory

approvalisorisnotgranted.Thewinningvac-

cinecouldthusstarttogettopeoplequickly,

evenasdosesoffailedvaccinesmightbethrown

awayunused.

Thatmayseemdeliberatelyandneedlessly

lavish.Yetevenboostingvaccinefundingten-

foldto$100bnormore,inlinewiththemost

ambitiousproposals,palesincomparisonwiththe$7trnwhich

governmentsacrosstheworldhavespentorpledgedsincethe

pandemicbeganinordertopreserveincomesandjobs.Thereal

extravagancewouldbetowaituntila successfulvaccinecandi-

dateemergesbeforerushingtoboostproduction.Intermsofthe

economicoutputthatissaved,tosaynothingoflives,itwould

makesensefortheworldtospendasmuchas$200bnonbring-

ingforwardaneffectivecovid-19vaccinebyjustoneweek.

Forsome,theprospectofsucha heavyinvestmentraisesfears

of“vaccinenationalism”,inwhichrichcountriesoutspendpoor

onesinanattempttocornerthemarketfortheircitizens.The

worldasa wholecanwringthemostbenefitoutoflimitedsup-

pliesofvaccinebypoolingresourcesandallocatingdosesonthe

basisofneed—health-careworkersfirst,vulnerablepeoplenext,

andsoforth.Around 80 countriesareinterestedinsucha deal.

Unfortunately, however, politicians in some

countrieswithmanufacturingcapacityarelike-

lytoputtheirownpeoplefirst.Onewaytomin-

imisetheinternationalscrambleoverwhogets

vaccinesandwhenistomaximisesuppliesup

front and to spread manufacturing capacity.

Vaccinesforthepoorestcountrieswouldneed

tobesubsidised,perhapsthroughgavi, thealli-

ancethatalreadypaysforothervaccinesthere.

Theideaofdeliberatelyoverproducingsomethingdoesnot

siteasilywithpoliticians,especiallyina worldwherethereare

somanyclaimsonpublicfunds.Facedwitha largemanufactur-

ingcapacitythatturnsouttobeuseless,politiciansriskbeingac-

cusedofhavingwastedmoney—astheBritishgovernmentwas

whentheemergencyhospitalsit hadbuiltearlyinthepandemic

werenotneeded.Yetpoliticiansmustberational.Youbuyinsur-

ancebeforeyouknowwhatwillhappen,notafter. 7

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