Andrea Huang
Since the late nineteenth century, when the wave of religion and conservatism swept through Western societies, members of LGBTQ have become increasingly marginalized and persecuted. Their sexual differences have been seen as unclean and are shunned upon by the majority of society. In a progressive era where racial barriers and class systems have been broken down, it is time to think about the rights for people that are part of LGBTQ. Congressman Barney Frank (Democrat-Massachusetts), one of the first lawmakers to be openly gay, continues to mark a revolutionary point in history by announcing his intentions to marry his longtime partner, Jim Ready two weeks ago. In this blog post I will use Gayle Rubin and Barbara Smith's ideas behind the history of sexuality, why it is important to think about it now, and tie it back to Congressman Frank who is taking a radical step towards liberating sexual minorities in the face of law.
Luke Johnson of The Huffington Post reports from Washing that "Barney is planning to get married to his partner Jim Ready. The ceremony will take place in Massachusetts" (2012). It seems that the wedding ceremony is to take place in Massachusetts not just because it is Congressman Frank's home state, but also because it is one of only six states, and the District of Columbia, to grant same-sex marriages. It was of great importance for the lawmaker to set a personal example for gay rights activist, as he says, "It's one thing to say 'I'm not prejudiced against a person who is gay,' it's an entirely different matter to accept that person in their personal relationships. So over the past five years or so, Jimmy [Ready], my partner, and I have made it a point to attend events together, to go to public places as a couple. It is important people see that" (2012). His public relationship with Jim Ready and his intentions to marry him is a rebellion against socially-constructed norms and behaviors that embody the message of it being a necessity to extend equality and justice to gays in the United States.
Gayle Rubin (1993, 144) asserts that the institutional forms of sexuality are a site of conflict and were created by human activity. This conclusion can be easily drawn if one were to trace back in time through history. Research and data have revealed ground-breaking evidence of a vivacious culture in prostitution existing in 70 A.D. Pompeii, Italy. Both opposite-sex and same-sex prostitutes were available for choosing without any judgment on behavior. If this kind of sexual freedom existed so long ago, then it must be that over the course of almost 2000 years, society's attitudes have turned against the idea that there is a whole spectrum of sexuality, and set just one gold standard.
So what accounts for this shift of thought?
Is it because people have become increasingly homophobic? As Barbara Smith (1993, 113) argues, people are usually threatened by issues of sexuality, and the mere existence of homosexuals put their own sexuality in question. But say it does put our sexuality in question, a lot of us do not dare to experiment around with it because of the implications associated with that. Many Western society's current laws that sexually oppresses people date back to the moral crusades in the late nineteenth century. There was a trend towards conservatism, religiousness, and when psychology and medicine took power, they exploited the trends and redefined sexuality in a way that eliminated what they thought to be 'undesirable' (Rubin 1993, 152).
In light of this analysis on sexuality, it can be understood that human beings have tightened up the parameters of sexuality. However, sexual differences do not indicate a lack of character, morality, or mental agility as society likes to think it is. And it is crucial for America, as progressive as we think we are, to change those views, think about the forms, the politics, the inequalities, the oppressions, and any other issues associated with sexuality. The time to break down conservative sexual barriers has come, and Congressman Barney Frank makes the first-advantage move against the unforgiving society and law.
Bibliography
Johnson, Luke. "Barney Frank Marriage: Retiring Congressman Intends to Marry Longtime Partner Jim Ready" The Huffington Post 26 Jan 2012. Web, 26 Jan 2012
Rubin, Gayle. "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality" from Social Perspectives in Gay and Lesbian Studies ed. Peter M Nardi and Beth Schneider. 1993.
Smith, Barbara. "Homophobia Why Bring it Up?" from The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader ed. Henry Ableove, Michele A Barbale, David M. Halperin. 1993.
First, I would like to say that I completely agree with this article. The right to marry whomever you love is something we should all fight for, and I commend Barney Frank on choosing to be openly gay, regardless of any effect it could have had on his career. I can imagine that running for political office as a non-heterosexual person adds another reason to worry about the opinion of the voters. When I read the sentence about how Frank’s “intentions to marry him is a rebellion against socially-constructed norms”(2012), I immediately thought of how Adrienne Rich discussed compulsory heterosexuality, and how this affects the way society treats women who do not conform to the normal idea of a heterosexual woman. I believe one of the most outstanding examples that Rich provides was of a woman in Oslo who confessed to a psychologist that she believed she was a lesbian and was subjected to marital rape due to her psychologist’s belief in her “inherent heterosexuality.” Challenging these social ideas of so-called normality in sexual relationships seems to be something that Congressman Frank is moving towards. By allowing the community around him to see him and his partner together, planning on getting married, hopefully Frank will help push societies viewpoint in a more accepting direction.
ReplyDeleteAdrienne Rich. “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence’ from Professions of Desire: Lesbian and Gay Studies in Literature. ed. George Haggerty and Bonnie Zimmerman. New York: Modern language Association, 1995.