> I may be missing something, but that 37% of surveyed people think homosex
> should be outlawed seems appalling to me. What on earth justifies this
> idea? I get fundamentalism, but that can't be more than 15% of this
> number. What about the rest?
>
> Christian
Ah, it could be that I'm in a good mood, just having gotten my paxil meds refilled, being cruised by a hot, hunky, blue-green eyed ringer for some guy in, "Kansas City Trucking Company, " one of Joe Gage' classics, http://hisxpress.com/9640170103.html , and, of coarse, the Supremes decision of last week and a better than usual Gay Parade Sunday, but, "only" 37% is progress, compared to what a similiar poll would have shown, in every decade past. Probably 73% would have said the same, two decades ago. One article I just read, in The Advocate, before the decision, on rumors of http://www.advocate.com/html/stories/884/884_supreme_court.asp , David Souter being gay, quotes Warren Burger, during the arguments in Bowers v. Hardwick, ", the Georgia sodomy case, Chief Justice Warren Burger blurted out, “Didn’t they used to put people to death for this?” Sure, it will be three steps forward, two steps back, change is never permanent, as the psychological and Xtian Right "theological" bases of homophobia, get reconstituted w/ every generation, but, the culture wars are being won, slowly but, surely by the forces of enlightenment and liberation vs. the forces of repression and violence. RIP, murdered, Gwen Araujo, Jihad Alim Akbar, " Akbar, a gay black man, was shot and killed by the SFPD on October 8th. Araujo, a 17-year-old transgendered Latina, was bludgeoned and then strangled to death by four men at a party after they discovered she was transgendered." Matthew Sheppard... (Though, tons of education and mentoring needs to go on, I overheard a conversation last week, in a bookstore, in which the 40'ish gay man was relating his dinner conversation of the night before w/ a 24 yr. old gay kid new to the city, who had never heard of Harvey Milk! http://www.glbthistory.org/museum/exhibits.lasso http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/visual_arts/6032541.htm http://channels.gay.com/pride/feature.html?sernum=575 http://www.conservativenews.org/ThisHour.asp (St. Harvey Milk, though he was a Jewish agnostic...)In hundreds of high schools, after fights, of coarse, "Gay St8 Alliances, " of http://www.advocate.com/new_news.asp?ID=9139&sd=07/01/03 gay and lesbian and "questioning" , and queer friendly kids have clubs, officially sanctioned just like say the Chess club or La Raza. In my high school, one of the football jocks had come out a few years before I was a student, and faced death threats, leading to his being transferred. Stonewall and the riots after Dan White was acquitted, earlier, the Mattachine Society, founded as an outgrowth of, "Bachelors for (Henry!) Wallace, by Harry Hay, of the CPUSA, lover of Will Geer in the 40's, and Daughters of Bilitis, and the Gay Liberation Front, after Stonwall, started to end the fear and repression...
Course, I've lived in S.F. for a decade, so it's rather like I'm living in a liberated zone. One so saturated w/ the commodification of gay identity, groups like, "Gay Shame, " are founded. http://www.gayshamesf.org/ "Don't be devoured by the consumerist monster of 'Gay Pride'. Stop the monster of assimilation, before it's too late. GAY SHAME is a radical alternative to the gay mainstream and the increasingly complacent left. We seek nothing less than a new queer activism that addresses issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality, to counter the self-serving “values” of the gay mainstream. We are dedicated to fighting the rabid assimilationist monster of corporate gay “culture” with a devastating mobilization of queer brilliance. GAY SHAME is a celebration of resistance: all are welcome. This year, awards will be given in the following categories: Best Front-Row Seat for Police Brutality, ( Model Minority Award, Propagation of Lesbian Bed Death, Best Commodification of the Male Gays, Best Gender Fundamentalism, Best Racial Profiling, Body Fascism Award, Exploiting Our Youth, Our Favorite Lofts, Wargazm Award, and of course the IN Award (Celebrities Who Should Never Have Come Out), Legends Award (Straight Allies of Reactionary Gays), and the 'Auntie Tom' Award (Gay Allies of Reactionary Straights). Competition is fierce in all categories, so we will unfortunately not be able to bestow awards upon all who deserve them...Detour (Castro bar) I had another interesting encounter last night (8/7/2) at the Detour. I was there with another Latino friend, 'Hector'. Again, Hector and I were playing pool. The all-white clientelle were very rude to us as we attempted to play pool. They often refused to move out of the way so we could make our shots... and Hector reported hearing them make "me-no-speak-english" jokes when he was at the table. Eventually we left, from the sheer pressure of the hatred Hector was feeling. He was very despondent when we left the bar, going on about how San Francisco is supposed to be this great, open- minded, accepting Mecca. He came here from his home in Mexico, because he believed that here, of all places, he would find acceptance. I could hear the heartbreak in his voice as he lamented the loss of his illusion. That San Francisco is gone, I told him. This is the Castro... San Francrombie & Fitch Clones... vapid white-boi land.
-- Michael Pugliese