Thursday, April 22, 2010
Queer Eye Against Not Queer-Enough Guys
I think these articles fall into what Andrew Sullivan calls "the end of gay culture" or something like that:
Item One: In Seattle, a gay softball league is being sued by three bisexual men who claim that they couldn't play in the league because they were "too straight."
Item Two: In Philadelphia, a pro-gay female State House politician -- presumably straight (she's a widow) -- attacks her male primary challenger for pretending to be gay (and charging that he later claimed to be bi) in order to attract gay votes (got that?).
While there's not exactly an, um, straight corollary to other previously out-of-the-mainstream groups (blacks, Jews, etc.), it does seem that there's a similar "growing pains" aspect to political maturation that all outsiders experience. At a certain point, there's a "crossover" or "tipping point" where the internal group politics end up being forced into the open. Newer politicians on the scene try to figure out ways to get "in." I'm not aware of white politicians trying to "pass" as being partly black in order to get black votes (a reverse "passing," as it were), but there are certainly cases where they go out of their way to demonstrate various long-standing connections to the black community. (And similarly with overtures to the Jewish community).
Of course, both of these examples suggest there is an identity tension within the LGBT community that may have to be resolved culturally before it is politically.
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Item One: In Seattle, a gay softball league is being sued by three bisexual men who claim that they couldn't play in the league because they were "too straight."
Item Two: In Philadelphia, a pro-gay female State House politician -- presumably straight (she's a widow) -- attacks her male primary challenger for pretending to be gay (and charging that he later claimed to be bi) in order to attract gay votes (got that?).
While there's not exactly an, um, straight corollary to other previously out-of-the-mainstream groups (blacks, Jews, etc.), it does seem that there's a similar "growing pains" aspect to political maturation that all outsiders experience. At a certain point, there's a "crossover" or "tipping point" where the internal group politics end up being forced into the open. Newer politicians on the scene try to figure out ways to get "in." I'm not aware of white politicians trying to "pass" as being partly black in order to get black votes (a reverse "passing," as it were), but there are certainly cases where they go out of their way to demonstrate various long-standing connections to the black community. (And similarly with overtures to the Jewish community).
Of course, both of these examples suggest there is an identity tension within the LGBT community that may have to be resolved culturally before it is politically.
Labels: gay
