Confronting Homophobia

Confronting Homophobia

by Maxeen Weinstein

  I have a few stories to share about the way homophobia impedes social change and the possibilities of a liberated society. I hope they make you as disgusted and angry as I am. Moreover, I hope we unite in our anger and foster a sex-positive culture which embraces diversity, including the homoerotic.

   I happened upon a demonstration in New York last year against tuition hikes at public colleges. I was thrilled by the enthusiasm of hundreds of people protesting Governor Cuomo's actions. People were fed up with budgetary measures that make institutions, like prisons, a growth industry, while making education increasingly elitist. The rally was quite spirited, and I joined the crowd of mostly students.

  Little did I know an incident was about to occur that would sour my day. I saw a sign that read: "Cuomo is a homo." That was it. My body temperature increased with rage, and I stared in horror al the four people who stood with this sign, standing proudly as they cheered on the speakers. At first I panicked and tried to deny that this was happening. I could not remain silent for long. I confronted them and pointed out that sexual orientation had nothing to do with tuition. Now the cat was out of the bag. 

   They were perplexed. They clearly had not anticipated my response to their sign. They stood there silent. I told them that I am gay and was of fended by their sign. One woman said, "oh no!" and backed away from me. They acted hysterically; as though I was a living ghoul. I told them that lots of lesbian and gay students were hurt by the economic situation we were protesting and it would harm their cause to continue acting so divisively. Someone challenged that. "Yeah, well, how come nobody else has complained about the sign?"

   Mr. Macho had me there. They were making it clear that I was the only fag in a crowd of hundreds who would speak out. I told them that most people are too intimidated to speak out. They were seeking to humiliate and isolate me, confident that I would find no support from the crowd. I raised my voice to counter their homophobia. I hoped that of the dozens of people who could see what was happening, someone would support my position. People just quietly stared; they were spectators to the sport of fagbashing. I left the demonstraron to find solace in the men cruising in Central Park.

   A year has passed. Reports of violent attacks against lesbians and gay men have increased. The stitches on the face of a friend (the result of one such attack) have saddened me and strengthened my resolve to be who I am. As a radical faerie seeking to celébrate life, I decided to altend the recent Ann Arbor Hash Bash.

   The macho male tone of some of the speakers sickened me. I was determined, nevertheless, to enjoy the rally as a community celebration. Then three men showed up wearing "Just say no to drugs" shirts and breathing through gas masks. Definitely a poor fashion statement. The crowd around me agreed and people laughed.

   Then some peace-loving pot smokers began calling the three men "losers." They were speaking with the tone of voice of the men on stage. I became apprehensive but I was not prepared for what followed - a group of men began repeatedly screaming "faggots go away." I began to stand up for myself, but felt no solidarity from the crowd. I went away, leaving the masked moralists and the homophobes at the Hash Bash. Incidentally, I later retumed with other faeries and our outrageousness was quite well received by most of the folks at the Hash Bash.

   The freedom seekers at these two events are destined to fail by engaging in homophobic name calling. Their battle of good vs. evil draws its power from the silence of complicity expressed by spectators who do not take a stand for lesbians and gay men. We will not achieve our desires by oppressing others or through an unwillingness to confront oppression.

(see HOMOPHOBIA, page 11)

HOMOPHOBIA (from page4)

There's a virtual unanimity of discourse in the United States praising the heterosexual, nuclear family. AIDS hysteria is used to create an anti-sexual culture. It is time to stop being scared of ditference and to embrace deviance. This means standing up and speaking out against homophobia in situations like the ones I mentioned. It means uniting with creative strategies to strip the power of homophobia. In the face of social oppression, we must defend the ntegrity of individuals. Only then will we have a chance to achieve freedom.