GAY
by Ann Weld-Harrington
Having thoroughly immersed myself into the Gay community both here and in my native Boston, I have constantly run into a backlash of homosexuals who state that they see no real need to assert themselves positively or, for that matter, to defend what they are.
For them, it is enough that they recognize what they are and live life. According to standards accepted by themselves, regardless of whether they are straights or homosexuals. her words, it is not important that they are homosexual, but instead it is more important that they accomplish career-wise or economically.
In ot-
Needless to say, this whole concept somewhat appalls me, in that I have taken everything a step farther and decided that the homosexual is indeed unique, and therefore we must indoctrinate our masses of common folk into recognizing the homosexual as an integral part of society -a necessary part of society.
In my eyes, we have gone one step farther in search of identity and love. We have chosen not to accept what society offers --man-voman relationships. We have rejected society's imposition and discerned for ourselves in choosing a lover. We, in coming out, have decided that what is best for our own well-being and satisfaction is indeed more important than what our heterosexual friends accept as agreeable or necessary to get through their lives.
Lavender Starship/Page 19/May 10, 1972
LIBERATION
When talking to my "satisfied" homosexual friends, I often recite some statistics from Congressional sub-cowittee hearings often pointing out that it is not enough for ourselves to accept what we are, but instead it is more important to liberate our oppressed brothers and sisters, as well as to inform the heterosexual world. There are mountains of work to be accomplished when, according to the Report of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, issued Sept. 30, 1971, it is stated under the heading of "morality":
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certainly
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"Not only does every individual reflect a certain moral character, but so does every group of individuals -the essence of which is determined by a general consensus of individual standards. It is this level, this distillation, this average, this essence which the state has an interest in protecting....The obvious sorals protected are chastity, modesty, temperance, and self-sacrificing love. The obvious evils inhibited are lust, excess, adultery, incest, homosexuality, bestiality, masturbation and fornication."
(Hill, Link & Keating) Certainly it is obvious that the government does consider us an obvious evil!
We cannot create social avareness by hiding in our closets, because by
hiding we are asserting that we are evil. The obvious becomes less threatening. Awareness is gotten through exposure, in hand with pride. If we are to destroy the myths, we have to start with our own concepts of self. We must accept that, to ourselves, we are primary, NOT secondary.
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