October 24, 1997 GAY PEOPLE's ChroniCLE 11

SPEAK OUT

Without lesbian and gay visibility, there is no history

by Vicki L. Eaklor

I am a historian fortunate enough to teach "Gay American History" every other year to undergraduates as a part of my regular course load. Why did I add this to an already daunting list of eight different regular classes?

Quite simply, to fulfill a need; or rather a series of needs that make this particular history especially important now.

The most basic need is to know. If history is written by the "winners" it is surely onesided. I need to know about the "losers" as well if I am to learn-and teach-about the richness, potential, and variety of human experiences. I also need to know how and why those losers' voices got lost along the way if I and my students hope to understand anything about power in action.

As a lesbian, my needs intersect with those of my non-straight students and indeed all other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (1-g-b-t) people beyond the classroom. As people desiring equal rights—especially the right to be treated with a dignity every human deserves-we are at a crossroads: The potential of realizing that dignity as l-g-b-t people seems more promising than ever, yet homophobia is alive and well in

many of our families, schools, churches, and governmental bodies.

This situation appears perplexing until we gain the perspective that can come only from a long view; a view that places the present not at the end of a timeline, outside history, static, and shaped by the forces of inevitability, but instead conveys the sense of connection to a history constantly taking shape. Moving forward may demand a closer look at where we have been.

The history of "the movement," for example, provides numerous stories of individual courage, while also teaching the necessity of organized, concerted action.

What did it take in 1965 to be one of a few dozen marching on the White House demanding fairness for people still officially considered sick and dangerous? What happened at Stonewall and why did it happen that night? What was the impact of removing homosexuality from the APA list of mental disorders?

Knowing that these events happened not only offers victories to celebrate, and emulate, but also provides the basis for analyzing what has and has not worked, in what context, and why.

If there is any one big lesson I have learned,

besides that of the futility of internal division in any movement, it is this about l-g-b-t history: Without visibility, there is no history and no movement. This can mean many things, from unearthing previously unknown sources to reinterpreting those available in light of ongoing changes in sexual concepts. We cannot study what we cannot find.

More important, visibility provides both a theme and a lesson. For our forebears it was a goal that united them against those that would keep them hidden; for us, it is a strategy upon which all other strategies depend. No positive change in the treatment of l-g-bt people has been accomplished except by those willing to challenge the myths and stereotypes that keep people dehumanized, and their sometimes unwitting oppressors in a state of unquestioning complacency.

Our history demonstrates that visibility is the key which unites our personal, political, and historical lives. Coming out, now understood better as a process rather than an event, consistently has been central to further individual activism, upon which any larger movement must rest. As such it is the one "tactic" upon which all others depend, whether one's arena is internal, external or both.

History can offer examples from which to

COMMUNITY FORUM

draw strength, to imitate, or avoid. We can study dissension within every group from Mattachine to modern-day l-g-b-t organizations, for instance, and conclude alternately that power corrupts, or that division is inevitable among strong personalities or people with diverse identities. If the former, then vigilance may indeed be in order; if the latter, we may learn to embrace difference rather than fear it. At the least, we can examine how others have handled their fears and hopes, gain a sense of belonging and envision a timeline stretching as far in front as behind us.

Is this history an agenda? Of course. Knowledge always serves someone's agenda, and for too long it has served those few already in power, already with a voice. Now that we have heard and seen, let's not just learn our history, but learn how to be part of it. It's there. It's ours. We deserve it.

Vicki L. Eaklor, Ph.D. teaches in the Division of Human Studies at Alfred University in Alfred, New York. This was the winner of an essay contest sponsored by GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, in honor of Lesbian-Gay History Month in October.

Continued from facing page

the power of words—and excruciatingly accurate and judicious in our statements about others.

Christine Link, Executive Director American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Cleveland

Warren will appear

To the Editors:

In the October 10 issue, I wrote a letter about Patricia Nell Warren's publicist contacting Body Language to do a book signing. He later canceled this engagement for the reasons outlined in that letter. Evidently, I sent enough letters, e-mails and faxes around the country. In the last few days, I received a call from the publisher apologizing for how poorly the situation was handled.

The result of that conversation is, that while Ms. Warren is already scheduled to appear in four places in the Cleveland area, she will also appear at a venue sponsored by Body Language. This will take place on Sunday, October 26, between 11:00a.m. and 1:00 p.m. at the Lesbian and Gay Community Center, 1418 West 29th Street. Of all her appearances in northeast Ohio, this will be the only truly gay and lesbian event. A continental brunch will be available as well as book signing. All of her books will be discounted 10% for this event and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Center.

I realize this is a consolation prize on the part of the publishers. However, I felt that it would be best to make the most of the situation and also let the Center get some financial benefit. Hopefully, this kind of situation will not happen again and publishers of gay and lesbian material will understand who supports them 12 months of the year, year in and year out!

Paul Zeitzew, Owner Body Language Cleveland

Resigns as organizer

To the Editors,

After founding the [Cleveland] Bisexual Women's Support Group in February 1987, and being the contact person, organizer, etc., for the past 10-plus years, I am resigning effective December 31. I will lead the October 24 meeting (Multicultural Issues and Sexuality). I will not be out of town and not available for the November 28 meeting.

I am available by phone if any women are

interested in carrying the group into its eleventh year-three or four women committed to keeping the group going could do this without any one woman being overburdened.

As of December 1, my phone number and post office box for the group will no longer be listed in What She Wants, the Gay People's Chronicle, the Lesbian-Gay Hotline, etc.

I have enjoyed the group and met many wonderful women with the courage to claim their hearts and sexuality for themselves and I will miss being so involved. Thank you for your participation and interest over the years.

If you are interested in keeping the group going, please come to the October meeting. If enough women are interested, then you could begin networking and planning for the November and December meetings and 1998. If attending the October meeting is completely impossible, then call me. I will put your name and number on a list to be shared with the other interested women.

Also, if anyone is interested in filling out a survey for my study on women who have had sex with both women and men and their safer-sex issues, please contact me, at P.O. Box 594, Northfield, Ohio 44067-0594. This research is for my doctoral dissertation at the University of Akron.

Thank you for your time! Good luck to you in all areas of your lives.

Barb Nicely Northfield, Ohio

Warn about all kisses

To the Editors:

If ABC-TV is determined to become an omnipotent parent to us all by warning of the dangers of Ellen, the policy should be a blanket coverage. That is, every program that involves anything that might prompt a young mind to conjure up sexual stirrings should carry the "Parental Discretion" warning.

Fair is fair.

If, for example, Dharma & Greg dare to smooch on screen, it could be argued to have the same sexually influential effect on young minds.

Equal is equal.

If ABC feels a need to protect our children, [they] must protect all our children. Or is the network merely heading off further soap-boxing from the frustrated religious right? Disney, ABC's parent by purchase, will undoubtedly point to their 'pro-gay' policies including domestic partnership privileges. Few would argue young folk have a clue about adult stuff like that. They know only what they see. And for now they see a

warning that Ellen contains something that is dangerous for them. Homophobic is homophobic.

David Reid West Hollywood, Calif.

Gay tax exemption?

To the Editors:

Recently the American Family Association issued a press release accusing the National Endowment for the Arts of funding the work of "practicing homosexuals." Their release, along with comments made by Sens. Helms and Ashcroft on C-SPAN II and in the Congressional Record, make it clear that "practicing homosexuals” are not “good Americans" since such desires and art works are, according to Helms, "frankly so repugnant to the values of America."

Am I now free to stop paying taxes? Since I am clearly not part of America, am I immune from the laws imposed on me by this patriarchal culture? Why is it permissible for "practicing heterosexuals" to receive government grants to further emphasize homoand gender-phobia? If I begin practicing heterosexuality in a pure Helmsian sort of way can I then re-apply for citizenship in America?

At the center of this most recent Senate attack on the NEA is my novel, Blood of Mugwump: A Tiresian Tale of Incest. The novel explores the confusions of a young Catholic boy as gender and sexuality explode on his schizophrenic body. He is never certain of his desires and throughout the book he discovers that he is a girl, that he is gay, that he is heterosexual, that he is a transvestite, that he is his sister, that he is language, that he is history.

Such transformations made Helms' aides, whom he refers to as "some of the finest people you ever saw," about ready to throw up. Imagine what could become of these young people if, instead of encountering metaphorical language, they encountered real, live, breathing difference? If pronouns and adjectives are so terrifying, imagine how menaced they must be of our reality.

In the end, Helms grants me the American right to "shock and offend [all the] poor souls across America [that may] run across [my] foul literary pretense.” Contrary to Helms' notion of art, I do not write in order to offend. I write to write, not to be read. I am shocked that Helms is one of my readers. I am dismayed that he was unable to learn anything about the pain of my life by reading my novel. But I also will not apologize for my art; nor will I apologize for my life.

I am your neighbor. I am a teacher of your children. I breathe the same air as you do, that same polluted, foul air of Helms opening his tiny mouth and spewing forth the plague of his un-informed, prejudicial opinions. I am a father of three incredible children of great spirit. I am married to a strong woman who is not as easily frightened by my desires, my sexualities, as is Sen. Helms. And this woman is courageous enough to fall asleep in the same bed as me every night. Trusting.

Doug Rice Salem, Ohio

Rice is an assistant professor of English and film at Kent State University-Salem.

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