Having lived under a regime of sexual oppression, I can testify to how close to death a person feels when his sexual expression is thwarted. Death becomes an attractive options in many ways. If a person has always lived in the the sunshine of sexual entitlement/privilege, such experiences may be alien to her.
> I'm not sure I understand this as a response to
Yoshie's critique of NGO's as playing a legitimating
role in current structures of informal sovereignty
as a mediator.
It is a general response to the sex panic about the Gay International that has been on the list lately. I just decided to use this post as a vehicle. I have gotten the impression that Yoshie, the Tomb and others think that sex activists who critique sexually oppressive regimes help do the work of Empire, hence their panic over the Gay International (I am still waiting for my membership card in the mail. I paid my dues).
Advocacy for sexual freedom must be made on both the right and the left. Individuals capable of giving informed consent need to be able to employ whatever discourse fits their desires at that moment. Not all discourses are going to appeal to all people, just as not everyone likes to get fisted. What is needed is a hands-off approach by authority when it comes to the area of sexuality and fierce resistance to any powers that want to play the role of sexual arbiter.
Brian