it.
The very act of showing up at a Judy Garland concert and seeing other gay men around the room, all sharing the vulnerability of Judyâs music together made that denigrated community feel less alone.
But even a decade ago, Harris worried that assimilation and acceptance of homosexuals by society at large would cause our gay culture to disappear. Itâs the very same concern that different ethnicities, immigrants and religious sects have as they meet the great American, and now great global, melting pot.
But it seems to me that gay people often donât recognize gay as a culture. They do, of course, appreciate all the hard work that our gay pioneers did for the fight for gay rights in order to make their lives better. Weâre not ingrates. But Iâm not sure our community sees our heroes, safe havens and that elusive quality called âthe gay sensibilityâ as something to learn about and celebrate. And I think thatâs a shame.
While Iâve been mulling this over for quite a while, it really hit home this summer at female impersonator Christopher Petersonâs show. While Christopher always receives cheers and ovations, I often saw blank faces on young gay people who really didnât âgetâ Bette Davis, mentions of All About Eve , or the importance (and I really believe this, importance ) of Judy Garland to our community.
While Christopher does dead-on illusions of Bette Midler, Reba McEntire and others, I think our culture suffers if young gay people donât learn about early gay icons and cultural landmarks. Okay, I know Iâm an old fart lesbian and many of these things were OF my generation. But many were not.
Thereâs a terrific book by Delaware author Marcia Gallo called Different Daughters which tells the story of the lesbian rights organization The Daughters of Bilitis, which began to raise lesbian visibility in the tragically closeted 1950s and â60s. The name of the group came from a story by the poet Sappho, and the late lesbian activist Barbara Gittings always laughed and admitted that Bilitis sounded like a disease.
But the story told in Galloâs book is fascinating and inspires wonderment at the willingness of our foremothers to fight for lesbian visibility and rights when it was terribly dangerous to do so.
Every woman sipping beverages, listening to the music of the very talented Rehoboth singer Viki Dee and dancing at happy hour really should know about Del Martin, Phyllis Lyon, Barbara Gittings and Kay Lahausen, the aliases they had to use, and the crazy, determined chances they took.
If Iâm being intolerably preachy here, I donât mean to be. But I was fascinated to learn that Bayard Rustin, an African-American gay man, was the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington with the famous âI Have a Dreamâ speech by Martin Luther King. He was drummed from the activist ranks because of his sexuality. I was captivated by the tale of Harvey Milkâs rise to the title of Mayor of Castro Street , and was mesmerized learning how writer Lillian Faderman rose from indigent sex worker to revered professor of lesbian studies and continues to be an influential writer today.
Our schools teach Americans about Thomas Jefferson, Betsy Ross and American social history â the rise of the railroads, the Gold Rush, the McCarthy Era. And if we donât get it in school, I know that my Jewish parents handed down their culture and my friends of Italian heritage learned their stories from their families too.
Itâs a sure thing that heterosexual parents of gay youth are not teaching their kids homosexual culture! Lucky are our young gay people with two mommies or two daddies.
Gay people have to learn our history and culture on our own. There are hundreds of books available at our independent bookstores (although they are quickly disappearing), at the big chains and on line. And thereâs a wonderful lending library at CAMP
The very act of showing up at a Judy Garland concert and seeing other gay men around the room, all sharing the vulnerability of Judyâs music together made that denigrated community feel less alone.
But even a decade ago, Harris worried that assimilation and acceptance of homosexuals by society at large would cause our gay culture to disappear. Itâs the very same concern that different ethnicities, immigrants and religious sects have as they meet the great American, and now great global, melting pot.
But it seems to me that gay people often donât recognize gay as a culture. They do, of course, appreciate all the hard work that our gay pioneers did for the fight for gay rights in order to make their lives better. Weâre not ingrates. But Iâm not sure our community sees our heroes, safe havens and that elusive quality called âthe gay sensibilityâ as something to learn about and celebrate. And I think thatâs a shame.
While Iâve been mulling this over for quite a while, it really hit home this summer at female impersonator Christopher Petersonâs show. While Christopher always receives cheers and ovations, I often saw blank faces on young gay people who really didnât âgetâ Bette Davis, mentions of All About Eve , or the importance (and I really believe this, importance ) of Judy Garland to our community.
While Christopher does dead-on illusions of Bette Midler, Reba McEntire and others, I think our culture suffers if young gay people donât learn about early gay icons and cultural landmarks. Okay, I know Iâm an old fart lesbian and many of these things were OF my generation. But many were not.
Thereâs a terrific book by Delaware author Marcia Gallo called Different Daughters which tells the story of the lesbian rights organization The Daughters of Bilitis, which began to raise lesbian visibility in the tragically closeted 1950s and â60s. The name of the group came from a story by the poet Sappho, and the late lesbian activist Barbara Gittings always laughed and admitted that Bilitis sounded like a disease.
But the story told in Galloâs book is fascinating and inspires wonderment at the willingness of our foremothers to fight for lesbian visibility and rights when it was terribly dangerous to do so.
Every woman sipping beverages, listening to the music of the very talented Rehoboth singer Viki Dee and dancing at happy hour really should know about Del Martin, Phyllis Lyon, Barbara Gittings and Kay Lahausen, the aliases they had to use, and the crazy, determined chances they took.
If Iâm being intolerably preachy here, I donât mean to be. But I was fascinated to learn that Bayard Rustin, an African-American gay man, was the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington with the famous âI Have a Dreamâ speech by Martin Luther King. He was drummed from the activist ranks because of his sexuality. I was captivated by the tale of Harvey Milkâs rise to the title of Mayor of Castro Street , and was mesmerized learning how writer Lillian Faderman rose from indigent sex worker to revered professor of lesbian studies and continues to be an influential writer today.
Our schools teach Americans about Thomas Jefferson, Betsy Ross and American social history â the rise of the railroads, the Gold Rush, the McCarthy Era. And if we donât get it in school, I know that my Jewish parents handed down their culture and my friends of Italian heritage learned their stories from their families too.
Itâs a sure thing that heterosexual parents of gay youth are not teaching their kids homosexual culture! Lucky are our young gay people with two mommies or two daddies.
Gay people have to learn our history and culture on our own. There are hundreds of books available at our independent bookstores (although they are quickly disappearing), at the big chains and on line. And thereâs a wonderful lending library at CAMP
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