When mega-store amazon.com revealed its
true opinion of gay literature by stuffing all of us into the adult
book category (read: erotica), I was not surprised. What did surprise
me was the shock wave that went through our community. It wasn’t
news that what we write is viewed as only sexual in content any more
than it’s not news that lesbians and gay men are seen through the
filter of our sexuality.
I learned this lesson over and over
when I tried to work with and learn from non-gay writers. At a
seminar given by a respected editor and writer, I presented a feature
article about an artist. When it came time to critique it, I was
advised to emphasize the artist’s bisexuality and the conflict
between her prior marriage to a man with her current preference for
women. That was the story to the teachers and students, not her art,
not her accomplishments, just her sex life. In reality, she had no
conflict; in their heterosexual eyes, there had to be one.
Then there were the writing classes I
took at the local community college. The teacher was a mainstream
writer with many works of fiction and movie scripts to his credit. He
was not an unsophisticated man. I was one of two lesbians in the
class, both of us published. This non-gay teacher could not refer to
our work without calling it erotica and harking back to the days when
he supported his family by writing pornographic stories. If I did
write porn, maybe I could support my family too.
And always, the straight friends and
acquaintances who’ve told me I could be doing so much more with my
writing; who, with concerned kindness, suggest that I write about
regular people.
How could anyone be surprised by what
amazon.com did. Just reading the headlines should tip us off that
fear of gays is alive and well.
“Hateful Bigotry” is the title of
an editorial in the Alaska Daily News. It criticizes Governor Sarah
Palin’s choice for attorney general, Wayne Anthony Ross. It
appears that Mr. Ross is willing to swallow his very conservative
personal feelings about a number of issues, but not about us. He
calls us “degenerates.” This may just get him into the top legal
job in the state.
Then there is the homo-cide happening
in the name of government and religion. Posters around a slum in
Baghdad threaten, “We will punish you, perverts.” Anti-gay groups
in Iraq are credited with murdering six gay men and leaving the word
pervert on their chests. On
Top Magazine reported that anti-gay feeling is fostered by
clerics and possibly by the Iraqi government through newspapers and
television.
Back in the states, “Death by
Bullying” was the headline when 11 year-old Carl
Joseph Walker-Hoover hanged himself in April. His mother said he
was bullied at school by classmates who told him he acted like a girl
and was gay. Despite his mother’s complaints to the school, the
child was not adequately protected or defended. Two years ago, in
Ohio, Eric Mohat, 17, shot himself to end the taunts of "gay,"
"fag," "queer" and "homo." His parents
are bringing suit against his school.
The good news is that we the gay people
have demonstrated that we recognize the slurs. Once we accepted
discrimination as a matter of course. We wrote ourselves off as all
the negative words non-gays, and sometimes closeted gays, flung at
us. This time, we didn’t look the other way when an invisible hand
at amazon.com tried to erase us. We tweeted, we Facebooked, we
texted and made calls to one another, the offending company, our
legislators, our newspapers. And those of us who dared, even
confronted the bullies with our appropriate, constructive, healthy
anger.
At last we are being listened to (as if
amazon.com could ignore our outcry). There are no losers in all this.
A lot of people have learned something. My hope is that non-gays are
more aware of the brutality of prejudice and, whether that prejudice
is trumpeted for fun or profit or votes, it will no longer be
tolerated. For this queer person, it’s important to remember that,
despite the recent rash of marriage and civil union victories,
there’s a lot more work to be done. Maybe, as each of us, in
her/his own way, stands up and protests, we have found the best
method to both teach – and learn – acceptance.
[Editor's Note: Lee Lynch is the author
of over 12 books. Her latest, Sweet
Creek, is a bittersweet love story. You can reach Lynch at
LeeLynch@ontopmag.com]
Copyright Lee Lynch 2009