He came to New Zealand this year to speak about how \u2018the leader he was looking for was inside himself\u2019.<\/p>\n
Hordur Torfason was waiting for a leader to stand up against discrimination of gays in Iceland in his twenties. Suddenly one day he realised that no
\n one was coming to do it. He says, \u201cIf you can\u2019t find a leader then be one yourself \u2013 don\u2019t wait for someone else\u201d \u201cThe leader I was looking for
\n was inside myself\u201d!<\/p>\n
He was the first man in his country to step out and say, \u201cI am gay and there is nothing wrong with that\u201d. Overnight, he was out of work. He lost everything.
\n Constantly threatened, he had to flee to Denmark.<\/p>\n
He decided to return to Iceland and fight. He worked to turn the bad into something good. Slowly, he built a gay rights organisation and a gay theatre
\n company.<\/p>\n
Now accepted, \u201cH\u00f6r\u00f0ur Torfason is a noted Icelandic songwriter and activist. He has written plays and poetry, played numerous roles on stage and in
\n several films, directed about 50 stage productions and designed and built stage sets for most of them.\u201d Wikipedia.<\/p>\n
In 2008, when Hordur was age 63 the global financial crisis hit. By October 2008, Iceland's debt had rocketed to more than seven times its GDP. All
\n three of Iceland's major commercial banks defaulted on their debts. The value of the national currency fell sharply. A severe economic depression
\n set in. Unemployment tripled. Many people lost all their savings. The nation was in crisis. All around him, Torfason saw desperation, confusion
\n and anger. \"It was obvious no-one was going to help them,\" he says.<\/p>\n
The bank crash occurred on Monday October 6th (2008) and the following Saturday Hordur started to ask questions of friends, and on Facebook. He told
\n his friends that he would be at parliament every day at midday and he asked his friends to join him. Gradually the crowd grew until thousands came.<\/p>\n
He had two questions for parliament:<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know what happened and how can you explain it?\u201d<\/p>\n
and \u201cHave you any idea what to do about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
People were very angry, some having lost their houses and their cars, but he said to the crowd, \u201cWe don\u2019t use violence \u2013 do you agree?\u201d and the crowd
\n agreed. He led the idea but cleverly got buy-in from the crowd.<\/p>\n
In the interview Hordur explains how two Iceland banks had been \u2018bought\u2019 by private interests for no money, showing the corrupt relationship between
\n the politicians and business.<\/p>\n
After the government of Iceland was made to resign and the new government, a coalition of Greens and Social Democrats was in power, the people requested
\n that there be a new constitution. A committee of 25 people were voted to write it. However once finished, it was ignored. Hordur speaks of the
\n importance of having a constitution and how it should be reviewed or renewed every 20 years as things are always changing.<\/p>\n
As the new constitution has not been ratified, a group called the Constitution Society has been formed and there is pressure for the government to
\n bow to the people\u2019s demands. However Hordur says this is difficult because the country is not really run by politicians, but by a group of \u201cten
\n white middle aged white men behind parliament running everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yellow Vest Movements have contacted Hordur from both France and Canada. However there did not seem to be one leader for him to talk to and so thus
\n far he has avoided responding. He feels that when organisations have violence and not brains in action, he is not willing to support them. \u201cYou
\n can\u2019t have a lot of leaders,\u201d he says, but you must connect with the people and ask what is their pain. If there is no pain then ask why they are
\n protesting. He also advises to ignore rudeness, It is just the inability to express themselves.<\/p>\n
Hordur explains the reason French protestors chose yellow vests is because everyone had them in their cars, in case of breakdowns \u2013 so it was easy
\n to use them and make themselves distinctive. In Iceland they took pots and pans to their protests to bang and make a noise, with the intent of
\n disturbing the politicians in parliament. It is good to have an identifying theme when protesting.<\/p>\n
Recently Hordur had a book published about his life and protests. It is called, \u201cBylting\u201d, which means both Breakthrough and Revolution in Icelandic.
\n Here\u2019s hoping it is translated into English soon.<\/p>\n
He has another book in the pipeline and while not as young as he used to be, retirement does not look like a likely option for quite some time.<\/p>\n
He lives in Reykjavik with his partner Massimo Santanicchia who is an urbanist, planner, and assistant professor at the Iceland Academy of the Arts
\n in Reykjavik.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgent of Change\u201d \u2013 a write up of Hordur\u2019s 2019 visit to New Zealand.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.odt.co.nz\/lifestyle\/magazine\/agent-change-0<\/a>\n <\/p>\n Here is Lisa\u2019s 2013 Greenplanetfm interview with Hordur<\/p>\n