Subscribe to Breaking News
Loading ...Corvino: Maine, Detroit and the closet
When I was a “fag” on the junior high playground, getting punched hurt even when I saw it coming. So too with Maine this past week.
Like many, I was dispirited but not surprised when we lost. The rights of minorities (gays especially) generally don’t do well when put to a popular vote. And the opposition’s central message—that gays want to influence schoolchildren—remains as effective as it is sinister.The message conjures up the image of gays as child molesters—a myth debunked but never fully extinguished.
A slightly less sinister (but still false) version portrays us as anti-family and anti-morality. Still another falsehood is that we’re trying to “recruit.”
Then there’s the underlying truth that sustains the myth as plausible. Yes, of course marriage equality will affect what children are taught in schools, because if same-sex marriage is legal, they will naturally be taught that it’s legal. That it’s an option for consenting adults who want it. That women sometimes fall in love with women, and men with men, and live happily ever after.
We should not shrink from saying these things, but we do. No doubt, the ugliness of the sinister versions—not to mention our opponents’ penchant for quoting us out of context—makes us nervous about discussing the truthful version. And that’s surely one lesson of this loss: the closet is still powerful, and our opponents use it to their advantage.
But we will not go back in the closet again.
We will keep telling our stories. We will keep showing our faces. We will keep getting married, even if—for now—Maine doesn’t legally recognize our relationships. We will not go back in the closet again.
And though we’ve lost this particular battle, we will continue to win the war.
On the same day that Maine voters took away marriage equality, Detroit (where I live) elected an openly gay city council president. This, in a city that’s 84% African-American and where churches exert considerable political influence. The rest of the country hardly noticed, but Detroit defied several stereotypes on Tuesday.
His name is Charles Pugh. A popular newscaster before running for City Council, Pugh was actually endorsed by both the Council of Baptist Pastors and the AME Ministerial Alliance. They knew he was gay and they endorsed him anyway.
One could argue that Pugh was endorsed—and won—because of name recognition. Detroit elects all nine councilmembers-at-large, and the top vote getter automatically becomes council president. It’s a dumb system in several ways, and in the past it has resulted in famous but incompetent councilmembers—Martha Reeves, of Martha and the Vandellas, leaps to mind. (Incidentally, in this year’s primary Reeves was voted out, and in the general election voters overwhelming approved a referendum for council-by-district.)
But even if Pugh’s landslide can be attributed to sheer popularity, it sends an encouraging message about the way the world is changing. Being openly gay is no longer an absolute bar to getting public support. And even those who regularly oppose us will sometimes let other factors trump whatever makes us scary otherwise.
Meanwhile, the more they know us, the less scary we become.
It’s unfair and unfortunate that we need to work harder than our opponents to win. They win by exploiting fear, which is easy to do when you’re in the majority. We win by building relationships—by letting voters know who we really are. That takes time.
So our opponents have a soundbite edge, but we have a long-term advantage. The closet is crumbling.
In the wake of the Maine loss, we will catch our breath and press on. We will continue to live our lives; we will keep speaking our truth. We will stand up in the firm conviction that our love is real, and valuable, and worthy of equal treatment under the law.
Because whatever legal roadblocks they may put in our way, we will never go back in the closet again.
***********
John Corvino, Ph.D. is an author, speaker and philosophy professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. His column “The Gay Moralist” appears Fridays on 365gay.com.
For more about John Corvino, or to see clips from his “What’s Morally Wrong with Homosexuality?” DVD, visit www.johncorvino.com.
His upcoming speaking appearances include:
November 10: Central Washington University (debate with Glenn Stanton)
November 11: Colorado State University, Pueblo (debate with Glenn Stanton)
November 12: Miami University of Ohio
November 16: Bergen Community College (NJ)
Check school websites for rooms and times.
Fuck off already John.
I’ve always respected you from our ‘96 PLAGAL days but you miss the point entirely…
It ain’t how effective they are but how ineffective the other guys are.
Ain’t a family sitting around worrying about how the teh geighs are taking over, but rather how little teh geighs are following Milk’s mantra.
What mantra? Yeah ages ago I know. They know you they stop voting against you.
If they know you and you’re a bitchy group, well, then…there you go.
“your view of athiaism is no different then that of the radical right christians the fundamentalist Islams etc. How about you let people live their lives with out passing judgement on their faith”
Huh? I let people live their lives anyway they want. How can I not pass judgement on something I believe to be a lie? I believe everyone needs to come to their own decisions based on knowledge and reason, not a medieval book and a preacher. How can you compare me to groups that absolutely force their religious views on others?
Matthew Simonds, your a gay Christian, I ask you this simple question, which do you place in higher regard: the laws of God or the laws of society? And when your faith requires to to follow God’s law first, whose rights will you trample on?
There is nothing fanatical about a position of absolute disbelief, and after 13 years of Catholic education, its a well informed position I assure you.
@Allyn: Thank you for posting that! That was the best thing I have read all day, and I’m not even religious. I feel immediately happier having read that, and now can continue on with my evening, and hopefully fall asleep with those words scrolling through my mind and my heart.
Love will always conquer! <3
This came from Quaker meeting one Sunday.
God speaking through me to you . . .. .
Why do you fear me?
Why do you cower like slave bound in chains at the sound of my name?
The hatred; the judgements; the attacks; and the wars perpetuated upon this name
gives me grief and pain!
As I cry in agony,
Let the rivers from my tears calm the Damnation Flames and drown the Brimestone Fire!
Let the love from my heart light a candle; a candle to be lifted to the top of the mountain and shine like a mighty beacon!
Let the rays of this guiding light call out to all of you! It is time to hold my hand and come home with me!
No matter who you are!
Gay, Straight, Young, Old; everyone!
You are the jewelry that adorns my body and my spirit!
In everlasting celestial beauty!
Luv
Cleara
To all those picking on God is Good:
You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Exhibit a bit of common decency, or is that too much to ask? Man, I knew this culture had long descended into the gutter, but really – mocking and bullying the mentally handicapped? It’s just a step too far. Did you not read where he describes himself as a Christian? And yet you persist in savagely critiquing his posts, as if he were responsible for what he says. Disgusting. In fact, he’s one of the more intelligent ones I’ve come across. I mean, typing, using undeniably impressive words such as “sacraments” and “spout”. He’s even using the internet, which indicates he’s overcome the notion (long-held by Christians) that it functions by means of demonic powers lurking within computers. Yet despite all this, you people still jump on his back.
Just have some restraint.
The above was written in jest. Well, not the “Fundamentalist Christians are mentally ill” portion. But seriously, what is he still doing here? Not exactly constructive dialogue, is it? Or maybe “God Is Good” really does expect to convince us of his position, as though each of us will suddenly turn to the other and say, “You know, now that I think about it, I mean really consider it, I suppose he’s right. I chose to be gay, to take vengeance on my parents for not sending me to Space Camp back in the day. But luckily this good Christian’s hateful diatribes have reminded me that God loves me and wants me to be a real man like Him. Okay, boys, shut it down. Let’s all make our way over to Exodus International!”
Nah, probably not his intent – more like slander and blind condemnation…you know…like Jesus. Dude, God is Good, your god sucks. And as I’m sure you’ve heard, no one chooses to be gay, as much fun as it is dealing with folks like you on a near-daily basis.
Matthew Simonds, while I may not believe in your God either, He (She?) has my full support as long as folks still insist on worshiping a deity. May as well be one that doesn’t hate queers.
God is Good: Do you actually listen to yourself talk, or read what you write? You throw statistics about the Catholic church and then jump into completely statisticless blather about pagans. You can find wiccans in all walks of life. In fact the Wiccan rede does sort of rule out abortion. Technically you are “harming” someone when you have an abortion. Pagans don’t drink blood, they don’t sacrifice children, and you obviously don’t read, so I won’t waste any more words on you.
Matthew Simonds;
You find it “disturbing how many with in the community attack others in the community of faith as if it is some sort of weakness”?
Come on, now think about that.
Religion has been the primary, ongoing basis for gay persons to be beaten, killed, fired, evicted, rejected, segregated and demonized for thousands of years.
Religion just lost our equal rights in Maine.
As a gay Christian, your task at hand is to convince me why I should give a damn about a religion that, by and large hates me, and for that matter why I should give a damn about what you think or believe.
So far you have simply pointed fingers at people who are tired of being beaten down by your religion. Tell me what you and your religion are doing to help the gay community and then then I, and perhaps others, might listen.
“New liberal and accepting religions bother me more, like a virus that mutates to stay alive.” jpmcull Said
How horrible people have a faith, your view of athiaism is no different then that of the radical right christians the fundamentalist Islams etc. How about you let people live their lives with out passing judgement on their faith, as a gay christian I find it very disturbing how many with in the community attack others in the community of faith as if it is some sort of weakness.
Now to the topic at hand I think that you are correct John, the best way to make progress in between the battles is to simply live openly as the more of us that do the more likely it is some one that voted against us will suddenly have a stake in our equality wither it be a close family member, a friend, a coworker. It changes the dynamic from that group of scary people I don’t know into voting for or against the rights of some one you do, and it is much harder to take away the rights of someone you know some one that you have to look in they eye then a group of people you don’t.
God is Good: all cults that have a deity they follow are pagan..the roman cult included.
And you are very confused about homosexuality and its relationship to child molestation.
Plus the link to atheists and all the atrocities of “non religious” regimes is quite tired and a very week connection.
Religions work to recruit people to do evil on their behalf. People are capable of some very horrible actions, and the fact that some atheist regimes have done evil does not make atheism equivalent to religion in the pursuit of power.
Religion exists to consolidate power on the backs of weak minded “sheeple” that spread the hate and divisiveness that is their currency.
Atheism is simply a concept of not accepting religion.
There are no “atheist churches” that recruit to do evil.
Those regimes you reference simply happened to not be cultists. The horrible things they did cannot be blamed on religion, but that doesn’t make the opposite true…lack of religion caused them to do horrible things…doesn’t follow logically.
Lastly Steve seems Jewish, he refers to his Rabbi. So your wrong definition of pagan (not catholics) would apply to him…non abrahamists.
But actually its all pagan, so in a sense you were correct.
Hold on a second!
GOD IS GOOD, you said someone’s eating children and having blood sacrifices! Well I just think that calls for a robust Cabernet Sauvignon, or perhaps a New World Pinot Noir, which is particularly good with lamb…
But I digress. Hey GIG, can you tell me if anyone wants to eat my middle child? She’s costing me a FORTUNE in university costs. How much per pound for her GIG? Can’t hardly afford her anymore – don’t get the tax and medical benefits of married…damn.
Oh, wait a second, they can’t even really be my kids – I’m not supposed to be able to procreate. Gads, I’ve been tricked into paying 12 years of child support for someone else’s monsters! Double damn!
Oh GIG, I need the love and support of your church. Do you pay people to convert? I mean from gay to straight, not from pagan to your church.
Please advise.
Sign me “Duped in NB”.
Well God is Good, please at least try to have facts when you spout your religious based hate towards homosexuals. The number of homosexuals in the Catholic priesthood is MUCH higher than 2%. Even the Church leaders know that if they chased out all the homosexual priests there would be more church closings and less individuals to administer the holy sacraments to their ‘flock’.
Yet without these fairy tales, you continue to do wrong. Like Communist and Atheist Russia, who killed over 50 million of their own people, which is a much greater holocaust than the Hitlerian holocaust of the Jews.
Yeah SteveMD2 the church that raped children for decades, would be 95% homosexual child molestation cases.
Don’t worry the Catholic church now has a policy of not letting gays into the priesthood. Should we now keep gays out of schools and away from all children?
95% homosexual abuse cases is a big number from a church so big and homosexuals so small in number, 2%. Nope I am not Catholic, but I am not pagan like you. You know, you pagans who eat children and do blood sacrifices. No wonder, you can find Wiccans and pagans working in abortion clinics,seeking the blood of an innocent.
Funny thing about church goers though; most were once self serving evil doers like you. Some were likely even molested as children, which apparently fits you, by your child-like lost posts and cry for help.
I am a gay atheist. Not only do I want to see homosexuality accepted by society, but I also would love to see religion crushed by reason. That being said, I take joy seeing the polling results in places like Maine. Where we may not have won this time, we have like 70% support from people in their 20’s.
I should be disturbed by the attacks on us by conservative religious groups. However, they are just hammering the nails in their own coffin. Seniors may be receptive to their message, but today’s youth is driven away. Where is the future in that for religious conservatism? I don’t want organized religion to change its stance on homosexuality. I want to see people reject religion as superstition. New liberal and accepting religions bother me more, like a virus that mutates to stay alive.
I know I’m harsh in my stance against religions. But I know we can do better. I know we don’t need a fairy tale to do what is right, and I am sicked when I see people act badly and hide behind their faith.
Isn’t it interesting that the “save the children from the gays” ads came from the church that
1. raped children for decades, and hid it. And this came about because sex starved priests etc established their power over the children by humiliating them. And the hierarchy did nothing except actively hide these criminals. I would suggest that the vatican be turned into a giant Jail, with machine gun towers and fences around it. No once comes in or goes out. No phones, Internet, etc.
The same church gave the world the hatred of the Jews. Which the catholic hitler leveraged into power, and 50 million died.
If any of you are Catholic, and still go to this house of hatred and murder and rape, shame shame shame on you.
To hell with this monstrosity. They and the islamic fundamentalists and the Christian, and yes even the ultra-orthodox Jews (nut cases who my rabbi says will destroy Israel and make it a taliban Jewish state if they gain control) belong in the same hole in the ground with hitler, Stalin, Mao, and others like them.
If your not religious, like I am, congrats. If you are , there are plenty of good churches UCC, Episcopal, Evan Lutheran, reform Jewish, MCC who will treat you with respect and dignity.