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 31 
 on: October 09, 2007, 06:35:19 AM 
Started by Feral - Last post by Rain
Wow....

Just today I was starting an essay called "The Last Sodomite".  The point being that sometimes I feel as if I'm the last sodomite.  It seems to me that most gay men have seen fit to adopt the mores of the (heterosexual) past as a way of mainstreaming themselves into the future. 

If there was one thing that historically set our people apart it was the blanket rejection of any notions of acceptable personal sexual behaviour.  Yes, AIDS has had a lot to do with changing that perception.  But really, is AIDS all that different than the plagues of syphillis, gonorrhea, hepatitis and every other communicable illness that gay men (mostly) and women (rarely) have had to overcome historically.

In my view, we've allowed the mainstream to cow us into a prone position on sex.  And it's not one that will give us any kind of satisfaction.  And all this only because they have always feared our freedom.  Such is their twisted moral bigotry.  The hidden message is this:  Can't you see that there is no joy in gay sex (and by extension, in their minds, in being Gay), that your sexual freedom only gave you pain and death? 

It's an argument that I personally cannot accept.  Yes, people died because of the sexual choices they made.  I know it too well.  But many more have died historically so that we can MAKE those sexual choices. 

This is one of the things that puts me at odds with Larry Kramer.  I will defend an adult Gay person's right to engage in any kind of sex, so long as it is mutually consensual.

Part of the problem here is that any attempt to sanitize Gay sex ultimately sanitizes our view of ourselves as sexual beings.  We live in fear and we fuck in fear.  There have been recent revolts against this mindset.  The current debate over "sero-sorting" is one blatant example of people who are just tired of what is, quite rightly, abnormal sex.  Rather than swallow the mandate of "do as you're told", many are now opting to actively research their options and their sexual partners so that they can have the kind sexual experiences that they find personally fulfilling.

However, I'm not as pessimistic as Mr. Harris or Mr. Kramer.  These shifts in cultural attitudes are nothing if not cyclical.  The pendulum does swing in the other direction eventually.     



   

 32 
 on: October 09, 2007, 04:18:35 AM 
Started by Feral - Last post by Feral
The Rise and Fall of Gay Culture by Daniel Harris is hardly a new book. It was published in 1997. From a review of it:

Quote
The eventual disappearance of gay culture constitutes a significant loss, not just for gay people, but for American culture in general." So writes award-winning essayist and social critic Daniel Harris in his devastatingly artful first book, The Rise and Fall of Gay Culture.

Harris' insinuation may come as a surprise to many people. Why, one might ask, does Harris think gay culture is disappearing? Isn't this, after all, the era of gay liberation, of unprecedented visibility for gays in the arena of popular culture: of Ellen and Elton John, of kd lang and Melissa Etheridge? And what about the spate of playful representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people in relatively mainstream films like The Opposite of Sex, Bound, Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, and The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love? Haven't gays and lesbians effected a modicum of legislative change? Are these not signs of greater enfranchisement in the new millennium? Daniel Harris says yes, precisely. Liberation is the problem.

More accurately, Harris would say that while the gay community sought to acquire social protection and legal sanction in the last three decades, it sacrificed its cultural traditions for acceptance. Moreover, as liberation progressed, the most notable of these traditions—excellence in all artistic and aesthetic endeavors—began its fateful demise.

In his shrewd and decidedly unsentimental style, Harris traces the gradual erosion, over the past 25 years, of an indigenous form of gay resistance suffused by campiness, bitchiness, and acerbic wit—an indigenous form of resistance, mind you, born not of an innate predisposition for swishiness but of social marginalization writ large. Says Harris, before gay liberation, gay men battled the psychic injuries of cultural disapprobation with refinement rather than legislation. In short, before they were activists, gay men simply had better taste.

Decrying the decline of a distinctly gay sensibility, Harris identifies diametric changes in significant features of gay culture, from camp to underwear advertising to the representation of AIDS. Harris attributes these changes (to oversimplify) to the rampant cultural homogenization of America and to unintended side effects of social-movement ideology. He concludes that the gay liberation movement, in its inevitable quest for mainstream American acceptance, has sold out the gay community and thrown out the homosexual with the bath water.

The New York Times has thoughtfully posted the first chapter.


 33 
 on: October 08, 2007, 07:05:59 AM 
Started by Feral - Last post by Feral
Gay Superbowl 7 Comes to the Lower East Side

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The New York Gay Football League is hosting Gay Superbowl 7 over Columbus Day Weekend. The tournament has been two years in the making and promises to feature the highest level of play yet, along with some great nighttime events that give attendees a taste of New York City. They are expecting 18-20 teams for the largest gay football tournament ever.

The games will be held Oct. 5-7, 2007

This would be that "other" football.

 34 
 on: October 07, 2007, 05:48:20 PM 
Started by Feral - Last post by Feral
Drama wins £25,000 gay film prize

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A coming-of-age drama about a lesbian teenager has won the £25,000 Iris Prize - thought to be the largest ever award for a gay and lesbian short film.

 35 
 on: October 07, 2007, 06:32:22 AM 
Started by vanrozenheim - Last post by Feral
My suggestion is framed somewhat in jest, but at its root it is serious. In the case of this retirement community, they have but to do one thing to retain their majority -- be Gay. These people have not purchased condominiums in a Gay community because they hate straight people, they have done so because straight people hate them. When it is the Gay individual subjected to the straight culture, the results of this hatred are well-known. When it is the straight individual subjected to the Gay culture... well, this does not happen all that often, but I think the results of this experiment can be easily surmised.

Gay people spend too much time fussing about being "normal," by which they always mean "like straight people."


 36 
 on: October 07, 2007, 05:23:51 AM 
Started by vanrozenheim - Last post by vanrozenheim
There really are few problems that cannot be helped at least a little by the application of go-go boys and foam.

Ah, yes -- the go-go boys! Those admirable creatures have all the potential to become a national trait of the Gay people, and one of the most valueable ressources... ;D The thumpa-thumpa is probably not everyone's favourit music at that age, but the residents will be more than generously compensated by all the beaty.

 37 
 on: October 06, 2007, 04:55:17 AM 
Started by Feral - Last post by Feral
October = Gay History Month
(Don't Tell HRC, GLAAD, NGLTF)

Quote
If you've forgotten that October is Gay History Month, you are forgiven for this memory lapse because there is no official effort by our national advocacy organizations to commemorate our history this month.

To be fair, HRC and NGLTF have a wee bit of an excuse. They're rather up to their necks in a family tiff... have been all week.

As for GLAAD... I don't think they need one. They're the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, after all. I'm quite content for them to stick to combating anti-Gay defamation.

 38 
 on: October 05, 2007, 01:18:25 PM 
Started by vanrozenheim - Last post by Feral
I see a possible solution --

Quote
The 13-acre community, with views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, features two- and three-story earth-tone buildings, carefully decorated public spaces, a restaurant that prides itself on not serving bland fare and a gym that would turn heads in West Hollywood. Dance parties and other events -- many of which are open to outsiders -- are often booked at the lounge and bar.

Ahem... foam parties. And go-go boys, of course. And quite frequently. The choice of music is a delicate one... optimally, this issue should be studied. I would hypothesize that some of the more raucous tribal remixes of hip-hop tunes might be effective. Naturally, whatever genre is selected, the music shall have to be just loud enough to not trigger an environmental impact statement.

The residents will have to tolerate some periodic noise and will, of necessity, be exposed occasionally to conga-lines of naked or nearly naked twinks. Some residents may endure this better than others. The principle is not unlike that of chemotherapy for cancer.

I do not doubt that a suitable combination of elements will prove effective at curtailing the desirability of the property to prospective heterosexual buyers. After all... we're talking about people beyond retirement age.

I picture my mother, or one of her sisters......... She and her ilk could easily be dissuaded from even visiting often with a judicious application of thumpa-thumpa -- all without violating any laws regarding housing discrimination because of sexual orientation.

There really are few problems that cannot be helped at least a little by the application of go-go boys and foam. Visiting one's elders is, after all, a virtue.

 39 
 on: October 05, 2007, 12:15:20 PM 
Started by vanrozenheim - Last post by vanrozenheim
Some residents of a gay-oriented retirement community have worries that adding too many straight neighbors might reopen the closet door
Quote
at RainbowVision, a development that opened last year on the edge of this high-desert city, a there-goes-the-neighborhood cloud has appeared. Some residents fear that their community could be overrun by an outside element -- straight people.

"It does not matter how friendly they are," said Roger Bergstrom, 77, who shares a condo at RainbowVision with his longtime partner, Barry Baltzley, 57.

Bergstrom spent nearly 30 years as a high school English and speech teacher in the Washington area. During that time, he had to be closeted at work.

For the last chapter of his life, Bergstrom wants to live in a community where gay people rule.

"If straight people are in the majority, it's different. It's not what we came here for," he said. "It's not where we want to live out the rest of our lives."

Very interesting. Somehow I have the stupid feeling that if the guys had pushed things a little bit earlier, there could be actually a place where Gay people do rule. Kind as they are, straight people have their very own cultural habits which are not necessarily shared by the Gay folks. It is clear that older Gays will feel very uncomfortable in a straight-majourity environment.

 40 
 on: October 05, 2007, 07:58:02 AM 
Started by Feral - Last post by Rain
New documentary:

For the Bible Tells Me So

For the cream pie footage go HERE.

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