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Folks, I have just gone through a nasty spat with a solidarity group that I am a part of due to an article about Harry Hay I am planning to write. I would really appreciate it if people who were in the struggle for liberation in the 70s and 80s could share their insights and thoughts about Hay and his whole episode with NAMBLA. As a prefatory disclaimer, I have absolutely no interest in apologies for child rape and think that there is never any reason to justify the hurting of a child under any circumstances at all. Please don't let the following message be construed otherwise. I'm not old enough to remember that period and I can only ask questions. Was he trying the classic boring in strategy that Lefties were doing in the 70s and 80s to reform an organization to stimulate a debate over consent laws and how same sex relationships are not given the Romeo and Juliet laws that protect a romantic partner in heterosexual contexts when one of the lovers, usually the male, becomes an adult and could be liable for statutory rape charges? Was he out of his mind and trying to screw around with kids? A little of both? Hay is a very hard figure for queer journalists like me to do justice to. On the one hand, his activism and founding of Mattachine Society and Radical Faeries was extremely important because he combined LGBTQQI civil rights causes with a Marxist class analysis that groups like Human Rights Campaign run away from with fear. He began doing agitation for gay men when they were being exiled from the Federal employment rolls during the McCarthy era and literally being electrocuted in mental institutions. On the other hand, NAMBLA, an organization that I would be happy to see evaporate from the face of the earth. Hay founded the modern gay men's rights advocacy movement and was prophetic in repudiating assimilation trends that are becoming a reality before my eyes, especially in terms of the role white sexual minorities can play in gentrification of the major cities. Part of the Left tradition is having heroes that are NOT saints, despite the efforts of the various Leninist-derived cos-pla y groups that pretend to be politically inclined. And just to be clear, Hay was not the only gay guy on this NAMBLA trip, Allen Ginsberg was also and arguably sounded completely bonkers when he spoke on the topic in comparison to Hay. Any insights? Best regards, Andrew Stewart _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
