"Memory" by E. Prosser Rhys

Ym 1998, cafodd y gwleidydd Ron Davies ei syfrdanu mewn sgandal pan cafodd ei fygio ar ol cytunodd i gwrdd a dyn yng Nghomin Clapham. Wrth weld yr ymatebion homoffobig i’r digwyddiad yma yng nghyfryngau Cymraeg, ysgrifennodd yr hanesydd John Davies am hyn yn y cylchgrawn Barn yn Tachwedd, 1998. Fe wnaeth ei brofiadau fel Warden Pantycelyn am 18 o flynyddoedd, a’r ymatebion homoffobig yma, dylanwadu ar John Davies i dod mas. Dyma dyfyniad o hyn, o’r erthygl uchod: 

In 1998, the politician Ron Davies was embroiled in a scandal when he was mugged at knifepoint after agreeing to meet another man at Clapham Junction. After seeing the homophobic responses to this in the Welsh media, the historian John Davies agreed to write about it in the Welsh journal Barn in November, 1998. His experiences as Warden of Pantycelyn, and these homophobic responses, influenced him to come out. The following is a quote of this from the above article (English below):

‘Arwr Gwlad a Thref’
“Ai anoddefgarwch y cymoedd diwydiannol arweiniodd yn y pen draw at gwymp Ron Davies? Mae John Davies yn bwrw golwg bersonol ar y mater.”

“Dydw i ddim am wneud odid un sylw ynglŷn â'i rywioldeb honedig, ond does dim amheuaeth fod y digwyddiadau hynny wedi peri i gyfunrhywiaeth fod yn destun trafod yng Nghymru. Ac er mawr foddhad i mi, mae'r ymateb wedi bod yn bur adeiladol. Mae hynny'n fater o gryn syndod hefyd, ohwerwydd roeddwn yn credu bod homoffobia wedi'i wreiddio'n ddwfn yng nghymdeithas draddodiadol macho y cymoedd glofaol ac yn ddyfnach eto yn y broydd gwledig Cymraeg.

Mi fûm am ddeunaw mlynedd yn warden ar sefydliad lle'r ymgartefai tua ti chant o wŷr a gwragedd ifainc ein cenedl. Cefais droeon y profiad o geisio cynnig cymorth a chyngor i wŷr ifanc a arswydai with iddynt ystyried beth fyddai eu tynged pe bai eu gogwydd rhywiol yn dod yn fater cyhoeddus. Mi gofiaf yn arbennig grwt yr oedd y gwewyr ar ei wyneb yn boenus synwyradwy wrth iddo sôn beth fyddai'n ei ddioddef pe bai sïon amdano yn cyrraedd ei gwm genedigol - a’m cwm genedigol innau hefyd. Yr oedd hyn ar adeg pan oedd Y Cymro a'r Faner yn cyhoeddi llythyron a honnai bod cyfynrhywiaeth yn gwbl absennol yng Nghymru; afiechyd ydoedd a berthynai i ddinasoedd megis Llundain, Amsterdam, Berlin a San Ffransisco, afiechyd yr oedd y Cymry, drwy ryw ryfedd ras, yn gwbl rydd ohono.

Nonsens, wrth gwrs, a'r hyn y dylaswn fod wedi'i ddweud wrth y crwt o'r Rhondda oedd: ‘Rwy'n deall yn iawn, oherwydd dyna yn union fy nghyflwr innau hefyd.’ Ond ni ddywedais hynny. (Ar y pryd roeddwn yn cadw fy nghynddaredd ar gyfer ymosod ar siofinistiaeth Gymreig a oedd, ysywaeth, yn brigo yn achlysurol ymhlith rhai o drigolion Pantycelyn.) Tristwch i mi oedd gweld rhywun yn y papur diddorol ond byrhoedlog hwnnw, Y Ddraig Binc, yn disgrifio'r neuadd fel cadarnle homoffobia. Dichon bod sylwedd i'r sylw a mater o gywilydd i mi oedd fy methiant i wneud dim i herio'r homoffobia. Teimlaf na fedraf ymatal rhagor. Yr wyf fi yn ŵr hoyw. (Yr ydwyf hefyd yn hapus briod ac y mae cynnwys y llith hwn wedi ei drafod gyda fy ngwraig a’m dwy ferch a’m dau fab.) Taflaf hyn o wybodaeth i mewn i'r drafodaeth; a derbyn bod gan rhai barch i mi - a dymunol fyddai credu hyn - hoffwn iddynt wybod bod y parch hwnna yn barch tuag at berson sydd bron yn gyfangwbl gyfunrhywiol.

Y mae'r straeon yn y Sun ac ati yn awgrymu bod dynion cyfunrhywiol yn ymdrybaeddu mewn trythyllwch a hynny i raddau cwbl unigryw. A minnau o bryd i'w gilydd yn mynychu clybiau a bariau hoyw, nid dyna fy mhrofiad i. Caf y argraff fod mwyafrif y mynychwyr yn mynd i'r fath leoedd, fel yr af i, am yr yn rhesymau ag y mae Cymry Cymraeg brwd yn mynd i'r eisteddfod genedlaethol - hynny yw, i droi am ysbaid ymhlith pobl o gyffelyb chwaeth. Wedi'r cwbl, fel y mae'r Saesneg yn gwbl dra-arglwyddiaethol yn ein cymdeithas, felly hefyd ddelweddau gwahanrywiol; y mae dianc o bryd i'w gilydd o'r naill neu'r llall yn weithred gwbl amddiffynadwy. Mi gofiaf bod mewn clwb hoyw yma yng Nghaerdydd. Yr oedd dyn a dynes ifanc yn dawnsio yno; doedd neb yn gwrthwynebu hynny, ond ar wynebau rhai o'r gwylwyr yr oedd yna wep yr oeddwn wedi'i weld o'r blaen, a hynny ar wynebau rhai o drigolion Pantycelyn pan oedd rhywun wrth law a oedd yn arbennig o lafar ei Saesneg. Ystyr y wep oedd: a chymaint o leoedd lle y medrwch chi wneud y fath beth, pam yn y byd yr ydych chi'n wneud e fan hyn?”


‘Town and Country Hero’
“Was it the intolerance of the industrial valleys that ultimately led to the fall of Ron Davies? John Davies takes a personal look at the matter.“

“I do not want to make any comment about his alleged sexuality, but there is no doubt that those events have caused homosexuality to be a subject of debate in Wales. And, to my great satisfaction, the response has been quite constructive. That is also a surprise, because I thought that homophobia was deeply rooted in the macho traditional coal mining society of the mining valleys and deeper in the Welsh-speaking countryside.

I have been eighteen years a warden at an institution that houses about three hundred of our nation’s young men and women. I had a great deal of experience of trying to offer help and advice to young men who feared to think what their fate would be if their sexual orientation became a public issue. I especially remember the anguish on a young man’s face as he told me what he would suffer if rumours about him reached his home valley - my native valley as well. This was at a time when Y Cymro and Faner were issuing letters that claimed that homosexuality was completely absent in Wales; It was a disease belonging to cities such as London, Amsterdam, Berlin and San Francisco, a disease that the Welsh people, through some strange rash, were completely free of.

Nonsense, of course, and what I should have told the young man from the Rhondda was: 'I understand perfectly, because that’s exactly my situation too.’ But I did not say that. (At that time, I was keeping my bravery for an attack on Welsh chauvinism which, sadly, occasionally sparked amongst some of the residents of Pantycelyn.) It was sad to see someone in the interesting but short-lived paper, Y Ddraig Binc, describe the hall as a homophobic stronghold. Perhaps there was substance to this comment and a matter of embarrassment to me was my failure to do anything to challenge the homophobia. I feel that I can not abstain further. I am a gay man. (I am also happily married and the contents of this article have been discussed with my wife and my two daughters and sons.) I will throw this information into the discussion; and accepting that some have respect for me - and it would be desirable to believe this - I would like them to know that that respect is respect towards a person who is almost completely homosexual.

The stories in the Sun and such suggest that homosexual men wallow in promiscuity, and that to a unique degree. As I occasionally attend gay clubs and bars, that’s not my experience. I get the impression that the majority of attendees go to such places, as I do, for the reasons why Welsh speakers (Cymry Cymraeg) go to the National Eisteddfod - that is, to turn for a while to people of similar tastes. After all, as English is totally dominant in our society, so are heterosexual images; from time to time departing from either is a completely defensible act. I remember being in a gay club here in Cardiff. A young man and woman were dancing there; no one was opposed to that, but there was a scowl on the faces of some of the spectators that I had seen before, on the faces of some of the residents of Pantycelyn when someone was on hand who was particularly verbal in English. The meaning of the scowl is: with so many places where you can do such a thing, why in the world are you doing it her?”


John Davies, ‘Arwr Gwlad a Thref,’ Barn, 430 (Tachwedd, 1998), p.4-5.