Kramer....and extreme politics
Most of the time when the media talks about "Kramer" it seems they are talking about the character on Seinfeld. You know, the one that went berserk somewhere. In fact, I am not sure how familar most of my readers are of another Kramer. This one is the very very vocal activist on the part of the Gay and Lesbian communities. I dont know what his stance is on Transgenderism, and it is just as likely as not that he has much less to say in that arena. However, he has been extremely busy for the last 35-40 years fighting aids and the governments reaction, or actually lack of action, in regards to it. In addition, he is a founder of Act-up which is the closest thing to a "violent" component of the GL liberation movement.
A lot of people find Larry Kramer to be troubling. He is not exactly the diplomat of the century. He ruffles feathers on just about every side of every issue. In point of fact, he is not liked in lots of quarters, including the Gay and Lesbian quarter. However, he has a message that is worth hearing. Being raised in the Bible belt by very religious folk, I cant help but draw a comparison between Mr. Kramer, and the prophets in the Old Testament. They certainly rattled folks cages, politically and socially and were not particular "nice" or well behaved while doing so. Sometimes the irritating gadfly has value.
For those of you that you would like to read the actual article written by Larry Kramer, click here. The question he p0ses is why do "straights" hate gays. He goes on to say that we as a country only vote for the "haters", so regardless of the attitudes of the people in the street, some of whom do and some dont have issues with Gay and Lesbian people, the politicans end up being those that hate us. My only point of disagreement here is the relatively minor one of which comes first, the chicken or the egg. In reality, in many areas of the country, the only way for a politican to survive is by being "anti gay" or at least anti equality. To be otherwise will result in defeat.
I remember very clearly a couple years ago, driving in my car and hearing a political ad wherein the main thrust was that the opponent in the election was tied to somebody else who seemed to be less than totally anti-gay. This reminds one of the past...say the 1950's when in certain parts of the country being "pro-integration" was a major insult. It struck me at the time that there was a whole lot of hate out there. Almost enought to bring tears to my eyes. Following on the article recently reporting Mohler's statement about the acceptability of using genetic engineering to rid the world of those of us who are homosexual, hatred is still a very obvious foundation underlying parts of our society.
I have probably said this before, but it is a continuing thought of mine that it is very sad to observe our country, which is supposed to be about human rights and fair treatment for all, being surpassed by what used to be the most oppressive countries on earth. Most notably South Africa which a few years ago, we were boycotting and otherwise trying to affect change in. Now they have surpassed us, and have equality of all as part of their society...including Gay and Lesbian folk. It occurs to me, however, that the people in power now in South Africa know what it is to be oppressed. On the other hand, the people in power in the US dont. They identify with the status quo.
Someone might point out that the people in this country are anti gay because of religious belief and that is true. However, this country was founded on the principal of religious freedom, which can be intrepreted as either "freedom of" or "freedom from" but either way, allows people to believe what they believe without interference by the state. Mohler felt the freedom to make a statement about "what Christians have to believe" but in fact not all Christians agree that GLBT folk are among the damned automatically for who they are. That is a particular brand of christianity. A powerful brand, but not the only one.
As everybody knows I identify as a Gay Crossdresser, which means that either way I am dressed, I am still a gay person. However, for those of you who dont so identify, here are some points to consider.
1. If you are TS and want to transistion but stay with your current spouse....that is a homosexual relationship to the extent that you are successful in truely transistioning.
2. If you are a CD, and you and your spouse go out together, you run the risk of being seen as a homosexual (Lesbian) couple. The conditions that fuel homophobia are not likely to be abated because one of the two in the couple "is really not a woman".
I am not an activist, but these facts make me consider becoming one and basically scare me to near panic. It is hard to live in a society where so many seem to hate who you are. It is especially true here in the South, where South Carolina and Tennessee had votes on equality for relationships and we who favored equality lost by about 80-20. I keep hoping things will change for the better, that we are looking at the storm before the calm. My paster insists that things have changed too much for us to ever have the sort of thing that happened 60 years ago or so. Not only was homosexuals mistreated generally but killed in Nazi Germany. An interesting fact is that the liberators freed the Jews and just about every other group.....except the homosexuals who many of them considered deserving of the treatment they had gotten.
I am reminded of the old story that "when they came for the Jews, I was not a Jew so I did nothing" and how things got to the point where there was no one to speak up when "they came" for me. Most of what is going on, is of course, rhetric, but sometimes I wonder about the possiblity of some very very determined group or individual that will put power behind the words, and prosecution might actually rear its ugly head again. I have to admit I am sometimes a bit scared.