The Suit in which Harvey Milk was Assassinated. Collection: GLBT Historical Society. Photo: Dan Nicoletta
Happy Birthday, Harvey. You would have been 84 years old. And yesterday was the 35th anniversary of the White Night Riots. The Texan was there and had this to say about that: “I was there. Much has changed. If I were in San Francisco today I would throw Flowers at City Hall!”
Hey, Hippie Birdy, Harvey. Here’s something for you: words, words, words…now glowing pixels maybe making a mark in the brightly-lit on-line world of today. No: no apologies.
What is writing? Staining sheets. While écriture is understood as operating on a symbolic level, the physical act of mark-making is grounded in materiality. Ink on paper, cum on the bedspread and bloody clothing of all sorts share the pull of the gaze…
Just a preview. To download the pdf of the article A Martyr in the Archive: the Life and Afterlife of Harvey Milk’s Suit click here: JonesMartyrArchives
via Accidental Bear. As we used to say back in the Queer Nation/ACT-UP days: Queers Bash Back! Does a heart good. And the racist basher boy looks alright all messed up. Poor thing…
But does it? Well-known Leatherman and friend of this site Peter Fiske has made an “It Gets Better” video and posted it on YouTube. We are, of course, re-posting. Kudos, Peter! It is fantastic. Of course. Messages of future promise are great, and can be just the thing to turn despair into hope. But. But. But. The “It Gets Better” video pep talks, started by columnist Dan Savage last year in an effort to curb high rates of suicide among queer youth, have really taken off. Cool. More on them here. Great campaign, but…it is not enough. Not nearly.
By all means, keep these positive messages coming. But. But. But. There are a few problems here. First off, it does not always get better – and we know that. If it always got better, dead friend of this site and Frameline co-founder Mark Finch would not have jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. A popular, successful adult gay man kills himself. Or: youthful co-conspirator WRG, handsome, smart, set to inherit two fortunes, dead in a hotel room in Rio with a spike in his arm, the body stripped of valuables. They had to identify him by dental records. Just two examples. It did not get better for either of them, and they were pretty well set to overcome the past.
But. But. But. Another problem: The most vulnerable queer kids may be those least likely to be able to respond to these messages. Consider two scenarios:
One: You are 17, a junior in high school, with loving, educated PFLAG parents, a nice group of theatre friends, early acceptance to UC, and a problem with the school bully who taunts you with calls of “Faggot!” and elbows you in the hallways to the amusement of his toadies. It makes your stomach churn.
Two: You are 17, living on the periphery of San Francisco’s Castro district. You left Idaho and your violent Christian Identity family at 13 when your mother caught you with another boy. She broke a bottle over your head as you fled the house. See the scar? Arriving in SF, you met guys who turned you on to meth and fucked you raw. Already shell-shocked from childhood, you seroconverted at 14, have been on the streets for four years, and look really rough. Half-crazy with rage and despair, you kick trash cans and shout in frustration, sometimes sit on the curb sobbing. Everyone avoids you.
These are two pretty extreme, but true, examples. “It Gets Better” is a good message, but it is not enough. The kids need more than words. Even the UC-bound good gay kid needs more than words. And seriously damaged youth need a lot more. They also need the tools to survive a world which will continue at times to be hostile. Food. Shelter. Protection. Health care, including mental health and substance abuse help. Access to education, job-training, connections and good adult mentorship. Spiritual support, including services for survivors of religious abuse. They do not need to be encouraged in magical thinking: “Oh…if I can only get to San Francisco! It’s like Oz! Everything will be fabulous!” Yes, sometimes it gets better. But: it does not always get better, and it does not automatically get better. If we actually want to see the kids flourish, we need to open our eyes to the full scope of the horror under which some queer kids come up – and add real resources that are equal to our encouraging words. We need to get real.
“It was scary so forgive the camera shaking.” Friend of this site Anna Kirey, who was there and shot the video posted here, reports that 5 people were taken to the hospital with injuries sustained during attacks by fascists and ultra-nationalists during the 1st ever pride celebration in Split, Croatia on June 11, 2011. Attackers chanted “Ubij pederima!” and “Ubij srbina!” – “Kill the Fags!” and “Kill the Serbs!” According to first hand reports, many police stood back, laughing, and the Mayor of Split, wearing Croat fascist black, watched the action from a nearby outdoor cafe.
Kontra reports from Split: “Public gathering ended in violence. Rute of the march was not secured. Attackers were allowed to throw explosive objects, thorches, big rocks, ashtrays and other objects during the whole time of the march and on Riva where programe was supposed to be held. Facists were allowed to hold hands in facist salute and shout «Kill faggots» and «You must die» almost on the entire length of the rute. Before exit from Marmontova street to Riva it was allowed for big number of violent attackers to completely narrow down the passage for the march. They were also throwing explosives and other objects and participants of the march had to go back twice and then finally go through narrow passage. During all of this police officers were telling to participants to go through the passage, although they were constantly hit by explosives, rocks and other objects.”
Lepa Mladjenovic provides political analysis of the situation: “Croatia and Serbia are states after the long wars, and militaristic & fundamentalist religious politics vastly present .. on top of this there is a special role of the football fans in making of soldiers in the Balkan wars, they are now as well ones who are ultra nationalists, the same militarism continues with them precisely, supported with political nationalist parties and church!! thats all to understand.”
More video: From Balkan artist Rakijamala, click here and for uploads from Queer Zagreb, click here. Interested in the situation around the world? Check out ILGA: The International Lesbian and Gay Association. Kind of like the Queer United Nations.
One of the web’s very best, Joe Jervis of Joe. My. God. has been blogging for over eight years, and has built a loyal and lively readership. Unlike many queer sites which strive to create safe spaces for their readers, JMG operates more like a free zone. The unmoderated comments section is always entertaining, informative and challenging…and often offensive. This is a good thing. Debate is healthy. Covering up rot just breeds more rot. And we’ve all got our rotten elements. Air helps dissipate the stink.
Joe published a rant in 2006 in which he talked back to the ‘normal’ gay people who want to rid pride parades of ‘defectives’ – those nice folks who discuss “how we might go about ‘discouraging’ certain ‘elements’ from taking part in the parades.” We all know who the elements are. Joe’s nice gays spell it out: “Why must all the coverage be drag queens and leather freaks in assless chaps?” The more outre the image, the better the press.
Of course, freaks have always made for good spectacle. The ancient Romans even bought and sold deformed human slaves at specialty ‘monstrosity markets.’ We no longer generally buy and sell living human bodies, but we do trade in representations of those bodies: images, words, memes. We deal in abstracts: Semiotic Weaponry – wars of words. Violence is inherent in communication. We undo and remake one another with our choice of words, appearance and other social signifiers. We attract and repulse one another. Vanillas might be put off by Leather’s overt sexuality and we might gag on their cologne. Punks and preps trade shade. We insult each other on purpose and accidentally. Dykes can see patriarchal oppression in a nice basket, and few gay men want to look at naked jiggling double D-cups – even with those little pieces of electrical tape over the nipples. One guy’s hot hairy bear is another’s disgusting old fat man. You think that intersex or trans boy is an attractive man? The guy next to you might think she’s a stupid self-deluding bitch. Feelings are real, but they are not facts. We can modify our interactions to minimize psychic damage, but the potential to offend others with our particular “defects,” or to participate in a particular ideology by our presence, will always be there. Only solitude and silence guarantee against this. We can stake out a spot on the mountaintop or disappear into the depths of a shimmering nishikigoi pond. Not a bad plan for serious self-reflection, but eventually we just might want to rejoin the party. Maybe.
Joe continues: “I’m not worried what the outside world thinks about the drag queens, the topless bulldaggers, or the nearly naked leatherfolk. It’s OUR party, bitches. If you think that straight America would finally pull its homokinder to its star-spangled bosom once we put down that glitter gun, then you are seriously deluding yourself. Next year, if one of the Christian camera crews that show up to film our “debauched” celebrations happen to train their cameras on you, stop dancing. And start PRANCING.” For the rest of the rant, click here.
The Gay Highwaymen 