rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (06/03/85)
On pages 47-51 of the current issue of THE ADVOCATE, a national gay magazine, are articles on Nicaragua: one by Ron Bluestein about an all-gay Venceremos-type brigade from San Francisco, another on gay Nicaraguans by Doniphain Blair. The latter is a slightly different version (a few paragraphs vary) of an article in the French gay magazine GAI PIED that I creakily translated a while back on the net. Biased Comment by Rizzo: Bluestein's article is a mild True Believer's setpiece that strews bland kudos on the Revolution, Sandinistas, & the Good Gays of the brigade. The original Venceremos Brigades to Cuba (North American enthusiasts who cut sugar cane in the annual harvest) were openly (and ultimately officially) homophobic, even though they contained quite a few gay members. See Allen Young's book, GAYS UNDER THE CUBAN REVOLUTION (Grey Fox Press, 1981). I guess progress here means the right to be deluded & openly so )=:. Blair's own English sounds somewhat more pro-Sandinist than my own wretched translation; ah, the not-so-subtle effects of bias! But (to me at least) Blair's English original now looks even more like a deliberate apology for the regime than before. Un pueblo unido surpresses queers, Regards, Ron Rizzo
riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (06/10/85)
I appreciate Ron Rizzo's articles giving Cuba and Nicaragua hell for the conditions faced by gays there. Homophobia, especially if it is institutionalized, is vicious and wrong and shouldn't be swept under the rug or apologized for. On the other hand, I wish that he would use equal zeal in condemning the homophobia which exists in other countries in Latin America. I've travelled a bit in Mexico, and I've heard some pretty hair-raising stories about quasi-official harassment of gays there and read the graffiti that is ample evidence of the homophobia of the general population as well. I'm not saying that two wrongs make a right, but if the issue is really mistreatment of gays, why single out two small countries when almost all of Latin America deserves criticism? I'm also disturbed (and confused) by Ron's implication that there is a direct connection between the Sandinista revolution and homophobia in Nicaragua. Is he saying that Sandinista Nicaragua is homophobic but Somoza's Nicaragua wasn't? I'd sure like to hear some details. As for Cuba, I have only one bit of information to throw out: an acquaintance of mine just returned last month from a trip to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade, and one of that was stressed on his trip was that things are supposed to be different now for gays. I have no doubt that this is intended to cover up the abuses which do continue (and I hope that Ron will continue to inform us about them), but I think it bears mentioning that the open and unapologetic homophobia Ron mentions appears to be a thing of the past. --- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.") --- {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle --- riddle@ut-sally.UUCP, riddle@ut-sally.ARPA, riddle%zotz@ut-sally