These kids see footage from the 80s - 90´s of ACT UP, gay pride etc and they long for a noble cause a struggle something to give their mediated algorithmic lives some meaning.
Trans is their manufactured AIDS crisis...unfortunately ´being gay´ has since the onset of retroviral drugs become synonymous in some peoples minds with ´having a condition´
So ´trans´ is their condition and they see ´life saving gender affirming healthcare´ as being akin to the anti virals or retroviral drugs whatever they´re called which stop the AIDS virus developing in people living with HIV.
Thanks for writing this Gurrrrrl! At 14 in 1982 I was full on nail varnish eye make up in hommage to The Synthesizer Bands the likes of Soft Cell, Human League etc fast forward late 90´s I was clubbing wearing a mini skirt and caterpillar boots. Nope I wasn´t ´trans´ just a skinny gay bloke showing off his great legs and ass......
Thanks for this! I’m not sure how much these kids will listen. The heterosexual kids that larp at being gay will never understand. They don’t want to. Being gay is a subject for them to study and emulate, it’s and identity for them rather than a reality. It gives them power and their made up history of LGBTQ2S+ etc etc is the foundation that their perceived victimisation is built on. Reality would break that down and remove them of their victim status and return them to the perceived doldrums of being another middle class kid with all the privilege they enjoy but don’t wish to be associated with.
However I do thank you for mentioning Mr Crisp. I read the Naked Civil Servant a lot as a teen. Fingering through the pages looking for some meaning to explain my feeling. Hiding the book in case, god forbid, someone found it and worked out my secret. Learning all his, now famous quotes. The one that sticks out to me that I think these kids, may potentially understand, is his story of the great dark man. The personification of the law of desire, the dream that you want so much that one must accept will never happen. This, to me, is the paradox these kids are in. Their desire to be something that they’re not and never can be.
Well said, sister. I’m sick of halfwitted morons telling older generations they are out of touch. We had androgyne and gender-benders in the 1980s. We didn’t whine and complain about oppression. Nor did we demand to be accepted. We just were. Fabulously so.
As a straight kid of the 80’s and 90’s who dabbled in theatre for a bit, I very much appreciate this. This shit is old hat at this point. My contention, which you may or may not agree with, is that not only is the gender bending of the 70’s-90’s seemingly way more coherent than today’s version, it also didn’t deny sex realities. Gender was played with to a great extent, but it didn’t inform sex.
The severe vexation in society today I believe arises because of the incoherence, whingeing and screaming, and mandates, not because of something that has been done to death- and better- 1000 times before.
100% and the reason these kids aren't expressing themselves coherently is because they are IGNORANT. If you don't do the work of learning what came before you, your expressions will be superficial, uninformed and empty. I find it outrageous that the primary tone of everything "queer" these days is one of victimhood. NO. The past ten years and the last five especially have been the great come and get it for LGBT+ visibility and cultural influence--in films, on TV, Broadway, everywhere--yet the tone of most of it has been "look how persecuted we are" or "look how hateful people are." Or the creative work has been substandard, preachy and obnoxious and audiences reject it (like with "The Acolyte" and "Dr. Who") and the creators and stars come out and whine about how hateful everyone is--how racist, homophobic, transphobic etc! These people and their half baked products are a BUMMER. And one thing we never tried to be in the gay culture was a bummer. Or BORING. Thanks for your comment. More of us--gay, straight, and other--who have been there/done that need to stop indulging these kids and serve the T.
You’re a breath of fresh air, man. I would add, that it isn’t just the tired “woe as me” sentiment, it is the overzealous religiosity of victimhood and identity.
Ahh, I was the gogo dancing bodybuilder in only hot pants with a Grizzly Adam’s beard on two tabs of deadhead-supplied purple microdot on the speaker box to her left. She was Tiny! My on again off again BF producer (Created Black R&B division at Warner, Prince, Madonna, others…) having a hoot.
For what it’s worth, I grew up in a mildly homophobic right wing family, and Quentin Crisp’s witty writing was an important influence pushing me away from that. It took longer than it should have, maybe, but Quentin helped.
And beyond that, it’s Quentin and people like him that inspire me to be the person I want to be, without whining.
This is great James. Thank you for writing it. The missing sense of reverence for those who came before in our community is because unfortunately, as Judy Garland once said about some people in her life: “I don’t think many of them are terribly interesting.”
The truth is, most people aren’t. I think all of the self-indulgent in-fighting about identity and this pursuit to police language takes place at the lowest common denominator of Queerdom. They’re playing it small and superficial. But what do we expect? Everyone’s living inside of a phone and life can get very small in there. My trans friends are not out there screaming about this. They’re busy making a life and their concerns are about the anti-LGBTQ sentiment that’s being espoused by damaged politicians and how close the planet is to destruction.
I think those who do want to make a contribution…those who are ‘creating with a fearless vengeance,’ whether artist or scientist…they do look back. We have to.
I agree, Walker! I just can't be lectured at anymore about these things from people who clearly have contempt for people like me, and who want their lived experiences and their identities honored and catered to with zero reciprocation.
These kids see footage from the 80s - 90´s of ACT UP, gay pride etc and they long for a noble cause a struggle something to give their mediated algorithmic lives some meaning.
Trans is their manufactured AIDS crisis...unfortunately ´being gay´ has since the onset of retroviral drugs become synonymous in some peoples minds with ´having a condition´
So ´trans´ is their condition and they see ´life saving gender affirming healthcare´ as being akin to the anti virals or retroviral drugs whatever they´re called which stop the AIDS virus developing in people living with HIV.
Just subscribed. Bitch.
Welcome, c*nt.
Thanks for writing this Gurrrrrl! At 14 in 1982 I was full on nail varnish eye make up in hommage to The Synthesizer Bands the likes of Soft Cell, Human League etc fast forward late 90´s I was clubbing wearing a mini skirt and caterpillar boots. Nope I wasn´t ´trans´ just a skinny gay bloke showing off his great legs and ass......
Where’s Bowie?
Thanks for this! I’m not sure how much these kids will listen. The heterosexual kids that larp at being gay will never understand. They don’t want to. Being gay is a subject for them to study and emulate, it’s and identity for them rather than a reality. It gives them power and their made up history of LGBTQ2S+ etc etc is the foundation that their perceived victimisation is built on. Reality would break that down and remove them of their victim status and return them to the perceived doldrums of being another middle class kid with all the privilege they enjoy but don’t wish to be associated with.
However I do thank you for mentioning Mr Crisp. I read the Naked Civil Servant a lot as a teen. Fingering through the pages looking for some meaning to explain my feeling. Hiding the book in case, god forbid, someone found it and worked out my secret. Learning all his, now famous quotes. The one that sticks out to me that I think these kids, may potentially understand, is his story of the great dark man. The personification of the law of desire, the dream that you want so much that one must accept will never happen. This, to me, is the paradox these kids are in. Their desire to be something that they’re not and never can be.
Well said, sister. I’m sick of halfwitted morons telling older generations they are out of touch. We had androgyne and gender-benders in the 1980s. We didn’t whine and complain about oppression. Nor did we demand to be accepted. We just were. Fabulously so.
You got that right!!
I'm thinkin' that makes you a gay dutch uncle. A term that has gone out of style and is in serious need of revival.
As a straight kid of the 80’s and 90’s who dabbled in theatre for a bit, I very much appreciate this. This shit is old hat at this point. My contention, which you may or may not agree with, is that not only is the gender bending of the 70’s-90’s seemingly way more coherent than today’s version, it also didn’t deny sex realities. Gender was played with to a great extent, but it didn’t inform sex.
The severe vexation in society today I believe arises because of the incoherence, whingeing and screaming, and mandates, not because of something that has been done to death- and better- 1000 times before.
100% and the reason these kids aren't expressing themselves coherently is because they are IGNORANT. If you don't do the work of learning what came before you, your expressions will be superficial, uninformed and empty. I find it outrageous that the primary tone of everything "queer" these days is one of victimhood. NO. The past ten years and the last five especially have been the great come and get it for LGBT+ visibility and cultural influence--in films, on TV, Broadway, everywhere--yet the tone of most of it has been "look how persecuted we are" or "look how hateful people are." Or the creative work has been substandard, preachy and obnoxious and audiences reject it (like with "The Acolyte" and "Dr. Who") and the creators and stars come out and whine about how hateful everyone is--how racist, homophobic, transphobic etc! These people and their half baked products are a BUMMER. And one thing we never tried to be in the gay culture was a bummer. Or BORING. Thanks for your comment. More of us--gay, straight, and other--who have been there/done that need to stop indulging these kids and serve the T.
You’re a breath of fresh air, man. I would add, that it isn’t just the tired “woe as me” sentiment, it is the overzealous religiosity of victimhood and identity.
Same same, but straight
Grew up to enjoy the boundries being pushed as far as possible, all the idols, where playing, bowie, iggy, global underground sets,
We where truly free to explore, dance, talk, wear whatever, be whoever.
And there was a lot of love, everywhere.
Love all around.
Ahh, I was the gogo dancing bodybuilder in only hot pants with a Grizzly Adam’s beard on two tabs of deadhead-supplied purple microdot on the speaker box to her left. She was Tiny! My on again off again BF producer (Created Black R&B division at Warner, Prince, Madonna, others…) having a hoot.
Love this! Hail, fellow.
Even the dystopian icons of the 20th century were better than today’s mean and tasteless boobs.
For what it’s worth, I grew up in a mildly homophobic right wing family, and Quentin Crisp’s witty writing was an important influence pushing me away from that. It took longer than it should have, maybe, but Quentin helped.
And beyond that, it’s Quentin and people like him that inspire me to be the person I want to be, without whining.
Amen.
Just purrfect!
This is great James. Thank you for writing it. The missing sense of reverence for those who came before in our community is because unfortunately, as Judy Garland once said about some people in her life: “I don’t think many of them are terribly interesting.”
The truth is, most people aren’t. I think all of the self-indulgent in-fighting about identity and this pursuit to police language takes place at the lowest common denominator of Queerdom. They’re playing it small and superficial. But what do we expect? Everyone’s living inside of a phone and life can get very small in there. My trans friends are not out there screaming about this. They’re busy making a life and their concerns are about the anti-LGBTQ sentiment that’s being espoused by damaged politicians and how close the planet is to destruction.
I think those who do want to make a contribution…those who are ‘creating with a fearless vengeance,’ whether artist or scientist…they do look back. We have to.
I agree, Walker! I just can't be lectured at anymore about these things from people who clearly have contempt for people like me, and who want their lived experiences and their identities honored and catered to with zero reciprocation.