30 November 1998: It's Not Gender

Tonight I went to a forum held by OUT Magazine at the New School on something entitled along the lines of "Gay Men and Lesbians: The Great Divide?" or some such. More aptly, it played on that unspoken theme of "Why Do Gay Men and Lesbians Hate Each Other?" Of course, that's a wild exaggeration. But, there are differences, and they chose tonight to discuss them.

Among the panelists were author Michael Bronski, Village Voice writer and editor Richard Goldstein, OUT Magazine editor Elise Harris, activist Amber Hollibaugh, and another woman whose name I have forgotten.

Frankly, I am behind with this entry. I will flesh it out more lately. But, the upshots of the evening were these. First, it's not so much a gender problem, but a problem people have with class differences--economic and social. Gender roles pale in comparison with our inability to even discuss our discomfort with these topics, and how we really feel about them. Second observation: The women were more insightful and spirited than the men. It was frightening how rambling and rattling the men's presentations were.

More later

Next entry... World AIDS Day

Previous entry... It's Just a Ghetto Thing


[ Contact Me | Home | Matthew Shepard Memorial | Diaries | Archives | Links | Web Index ]
Copyright (c) 1998, Seth J. Bookey, New York, NY 10021, sethbook@panix.com