anderson@uwmacc.UUCP (Jess Anderson) (10/13/86)
> In the best of all possible worlds, perhaps sexual preference would be > our distinguishing characteristic. The world we live in, though, is > intolerant of diversity, nervous about sex, nervous about masculinity, > nervous that Billy or Judy might be different, and nervous that > certain minorities, if left unrepressed, might contaminate the majority > with their peculiar ways. All these nervousnesses are deeply rooted > in our institutions and have a truly frightening power to assert > themselves. They assert themselves in law. They assert themselves in > public policy -- who can live where and who can or cannot have a > certain job. They assert themselves when someone's mother cries nonstop > for two weeks because she got The News and when someone's father tells > someone not to come home again. They assert themselves when children > are teased, ostracized, or even beaten by their peers. They assert > themselves when gay people go through years, alone, of self-hatred, > self-doubt, and dread of a life that they fear lies ahead. These may > be extreme examples, but all of us have gone through this to some > degree. > > This common cultural experience is more unifying than mere shared > sexual preference could ever be. And this is a profoundly true statement! It is one that is hard for many to understand, even many of *us*! > As I find my youth waning and my character, I hope, maturing, I find > that I have less and less appetite for confrontation -- though I am > resigned to it and would storm the Bastille if need be -- and I find > more and more satisfaction in opening up my life to straight friends > so that they can see, if they are curious, what life is like for us. > Most of them ARE curious, and it's surprising how quickly they seem > to start thinking of you not as a GAY friend -- but just as a friend, > because they realize that the differences are trivial. Show me a > straight person who has gay friends and I'll show you someone who > realizes as strongly as we do that the conflicts are bunk. > > Political struggle is difficult, divisive, and time-consuming. > It tends to drain our energies, which I think naturally try to find > a more human expression. Political struggle is essential in the > circumstances in which we find ourselves. But I think we are wrong > if we think that the struggle is purely a political one and that > we will have won it when we've amassed sufficient power to push back > the boot heel aimed at us by Georgia legislatures and old-time > preachers. We are 7% to 13%. Alone, we will never have such > political power. > > We speak of liberation, and I think by that we mean political > liberation. It implies confrontation. But winning friends and > supporters is also an act of liberation, and it is the opposite > of confrontation. > > David Dalton ihnp4!gladys!david -or- ethos!gladys!david > ____________ P.O. Box 256, Bethania, NC 27010 Thanks, David, for a real good post. Having been through most of the political mills quite a few times (and, it seems to me, having overcome quite a few external and internal obstacles in the process), I think there is much wisdom in what you say. BTW, do you have a source on the 7-13% figure? A gay historian friend of mine here thinks the fraction of same-sexers (both genders) may be somewhat lower, like 5-8%. -- ==ARPA:====================anderson@unix.macc.wisc.edu===Jess Anderson====== | (Please use ARPA if you can.) MACC | | UUCP: {harvard,seismo,topaz, 1210 W. Dayton | | akgua,allegra,ihnp4,usbvax}!uwvax!uwmacc!anderson Madison, WI 53706 | | BITNET: anderson@wiscmacc 608/263-6988 | ==The sage acts without choosing.=========(Chuang Tsu)======================