diagnosis: wanderlust

it's pride today. alex, who lives deep in homo-ville, tells me that it sounds like a bad cruise near tijuana. i don't blame him, but i'm going anyway. as much as television would have you believe, fags have never really been the masters of good taste. well, at least not the young ones i know.

i never really thought that my opinions on gay pride would change much. lately, though, i've been thinking differently. there are those radicals who think that the only way to achieve a tolerant society is to be as visible as possible; these are the "we're here and we're queer" people. there are also those who feel that the gay rights movement is better served by integrating into larger communities; this is my school of thought. it's a classic illustration of "broad exposure" versus "deep exposure". which one works better in promoting a more inclusive society? while drag queens, leather men and biker dykes were historically on the front lines of the gay liberation movement, they are symbols that few outside the world's gay villages can identify with.

there are some that would ask me why i don't include lesbians, bisexuals, and the transgendered in my theories. in fact, i do. terminologically speaking, i often refer to lesbians as gay women. the word "lesbian," when used as an adjective, is acceptable in my mind. however, the word "lesbian," when used as a noun, defines gay women by their sexuality, which is counterproductive to the ideals of the gay rights movement. it's akin to saying "oh, i love/hate the gays!", which is neither very politically correct nor a good use of the english language. while bisexual men and women sometimes cope with the added challenge of distrust from aspects of straight and gay communities, i see them experiencing many of the same struggles as gay men and women. the difference is therefore negligible.

i specifically exclude transgendered men and women from the above statements, however. of course, this is not because i see them as second-class citizens, but because so many others still do.

gay men and women have come to be absorbed into mainstream culture by most urban canadians. their historical struggles have been well documented. that being said, the fight that transgendered people face has hardly begun.

gay people must be proactive in defending the rights of the transgendered. while there are still many out there that condemn gay relationships, they at least acknowledge the existance of the gay community (as much as i hate that term). many straight people, however, are not even aware of the existance of transgendered people or the concept of fluid gender identity. in so many cases, discrimination based upon gender identity is not illegal (interestingly, gender identity is a proctected status in nunavut).

as someone who has been a target of physical violence based on my sexual orientation, i feel somewhat guilty for not standing up to the victims of violence more strongly. where are the police late at night? why do school boards still turn a blind eye to bullying (not just of gay and lesbian students, but of everybody)? it's great that canada is one of a select few states that allow equal marriage. that being said, people are still getting the shit kicked out of them in this city for being gay. this is unacceptable. i remember the words of harvey milk, "if a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country."

harvey milk is dead. let those doors be shattered apart.