Comments on: The Daily Agenda for Thursday, August 2 http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/02/47089 News, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric Tue, 21 May 2013 08:06:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Charles http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/02/47089/comment-page-1#comment-135080 Charles Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:35:55 +0000 http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47089#comment-135080 Edit of my previous post, the last sentence. When AIDS first appeared in the 1980s no one knew what we were confronting. Even the subject of homosexuality itself was not widely discussed. The arrival of AIDS made that impossible to continue. Edit of my previous post, the last sentence.

When AIDS first appeared in the 1980s no one knew what we were confronting. Even the subject of homosexuality itself was not widely discussed. The arrival of AIDS made that impossible to continue.

]]> By: Charles http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/02/47089/comment-page-1#comment-135079 Charles Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:32:59 +0000 http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47089#comment-135079 All of the stories for the day were interesting. The story about Abraham A. Brill was especially interesting. I have always thought that Reagan has received a bad rap from the gay community. His open letter to a prominent newspaper in opposition to a California proposition that would have banned gays, lesbians and even their supporters from teaching in public schools was probably the deciding factor in the defeat of that proposition. When AIDS first appeared in the 1980s everything no one knew what we were confronting. Even the subject of homosexuality itself was not widely discussed. The arrival of AIDS made that impossible to continue. All of the stories for the day were interesting. The story about Abraham A. Brill was especially interesting.

I have always thought that Reagan has received a bad rap from the gay community. His open letter to a prominent newspaper in opposition to a California proposition that would have banned gays, lesbians and even their supporters from teaching in public schools was probably the deciding factor in the defeat of that proposition. When AIDS first appeared in the 1980s everything no one knew what we were confronting. Even the subject of homosexuality itself was not widely discussed. The arrival of AIDS made that impossible to continue.

]]> By: Ben in Oakland http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/02/47089/comment-page-1#comment-135046 Ben in Oakland Thu, 02 Aug 2012 14:25:15 +0000 http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47089#comment-135046 "let me stick my finger up your butt." "let me show you some gay porn to show you what normal sexuality is about" "let me hold you in a manly way, from behind, and pay no attention to the little man behind the zipper" "let me put you with a lot of other sexually 'confused' men." "let me teach youto hate the best part of yourself so that you'll be as confused as I am about WHO and WHAT I am." The more things change, the more they stay the same. “let me stick my finger up your butt.”

“let me show you some gay porn to show you what normal sexuality is about”

“let me hold you in a manly way, from behind, and pay no attention to the little man behind the zipper”

“let me put you with a lot of other sexually ‘confused’ men.”

“let me teach youto hate the best part of yourself so that you’ll be as confused as I am about WHO and WHAT I am.”

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

]]> By: Stephen http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/02/47089/comment-page-1#comment-135024 Stephen Thu, 02 Aug 2012 12:44:06 +0000 http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47089#comment-135024 Baldwin was, of course, an American original and a man of profound, almost unnerving eloquence. His novels get better as they age and his social remarks are as trenchant now as when he wrote them. I was struck, reading of earlier 'cures' by the thought that castration still seems to be the answer to many. I would suggest that, to name just one, Alan Chambers' offer of a life of tortured celibacy while pretending to be straight is merely a religious castration deserving of the same contempt and derision as the physical (or chemical as in Turing's case) variety. Baldwin was, of course, an American original and a man of profound, almost unnerving eloquence. His novels get better as they age and his social remarks are as trenchant now as when he wrote them.

I was struck, reading of earlier ‘cures’ by the thought that castration still seems to be the answer to many. I would suggest that, to name just one, Alan Chambers’ offer of a life of tortured celibacy while pretending to be straight is merely a religious castration deserving of the same contempt and derision as the physical (or chemical as in Turing’s case) variety.

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