maf@unisoft.UUCP (06/05/84)
To say that we should become `sexual-preference-blind' sounds to me, in part, to be the denial of the existence of `gay culture', which for gays (especially when in the midst or inception of the `coming out' process) is essential for taking power in their (our) own lives for the good of themselves and for the group as a whole. Certainly, I appreciate the fact that my sexual preference has not resulted in my losing either my close relationships with family or friends. In that sense, I do reap the rewards of such blindness and acknowledge, with thanks, its existence. However, I wish I had had at least one positive example of a gay adult to relate to when I was a child - or even a young adult! It really wasn't until I came out myself that I found there were gay people who had lived at other times (not just the crazy '70's and '80's) who contributed alot to society as a whole and to each other in the creation of a beautiful culture of music and literature and poetry and history... I could (and do) go on and on, I know, still I am proud to be gay and feel that it is no small part of EVERYTHING that I do. So, if I feel that way - and I am no Turing or Stein - how could I dismiss that aspect of life in considering the works, the legacy, that gay people from the past have left to us? I am not, admittedly, a big one for TOTAL assimilation, anyway. One of the things about California that was hardest for me to get used to was the lack of `ethnicity' (at least the way it was expressed in N.Y.C.). The living history of different cultures living together without losing themselves. I'm trying to create that in my personal life as well, as a matter of fact. That kind of existence is more of an ideal to me than sexual-preference blind-ness. Not that either is terribly believable, but then that's another story... Just my opinion, of course... maf ucbvax!unisoft!maf