A few weeks earlier, there was a PEN-L discussion on the killing of Trayvon Martin. I have very mixed feelings about the reaction to this tragedy from portions of the 'Left" (including many PEN-Lers) who have basically been clamoring for the head of his accused killer George Zimmerman - but my feelings did not seem to get much sympathy from among PEN-Lers.
I have had similarly mixed feelings about many gay rights issues in the news recently - gay marriage, "don't ask, don't tell" etc. I mean, are we really supposed to get all excited about the right of queers to join the Army and go kill Afghans and Iraqis? This is the great new Progressive cause? Anyway, I was delighted to see a real gay rights activist to really come out and articulate exactly these ideas. I highly recommend this interview on KPFA's Against the Grain: http://www.againstthegrain.org/program/566/id/240015/tues-6-12-12-gay-conservatism --------------------------snip June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride month, yet the distance between queer liberation and gay pride has become quite wide. That, at least, is the argument made by queer critic and writer Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. She posits that LGBT politics have been dominated by an elite gay establishment pushing a conservative agenda, by advocating for lesbians and gays in the military, gay marriage, and draconian hate crimes legislation. She discusses the rifts within the gay community that even the left media tends to ignore. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
