The Cultural Revolution Is On
By Keith Boykin, in pop culture
Friday, April 21 2006, 11:04AM
Two events happened in the past week that highlight just where the gay and lesbian movement is headed. The first was the GLAAD Media Awards, which were televised on VH1 for the first time ever. The second was the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, which attracted hundreds of gay and lesbian parents to the South Lawn of the nation?s most famous residence.
While our lobbyists in Washington are courageously struggling against a Republican president and a GOP-controlled Congress, people outside of Washington are quietly leading a revolution.
I spent 8 years in Washington, first as a White House aide to President Clinton, then as an executive director of a national advocacy group and later as a political science professor. When you?re in that environment you learn to believe that the world revolves around presidential executive orders and federal legislation. You get tested by your colleagues at dinner parties who casually drop lingo about ?H.R. 473? or the ?Kennedy-McCain Amendment? and so on.
But I?m not in that world anymore. I live in New York now, where I?m more likely to hear about spring fashion week or the latest publishing scandal than about pending congressional legislation. And I imagine if I lived in Los Angeles I would hear about the latest Hollywood studio blockbuster or the hottest industry gossip. But before we frown on the entertainment industry, we should not forget that the film makers and television producers can be just as helpful as the lawmakers and lobbyists when it comes to creating change and securing LGBT rights.
Last month, I started hosting a new TV talk show on BET J called ?My Two Cents.? Although I?m openly gay, I wasn?t hired simply to be a gay voice. My sexuality comes up from time to time, but it isn?t the focus of the show, and I?m not there to argue with anyone about it. That?s revolutionary for BET. With Ellen DeGeneres on in the morning and Will and Grace and Noah?s Arc on at night, Americans are gradually becoming more comfortable with gay people just being present. We can thank the media for helping with that.
On Easter Sunday, anyone in America could tune into VH1 and watch Charlize Theron, Melissa Etheridge, Teri Hatcher, Michael Douglas, Jessica Alba, Ang Lee and many other celebrities celebrating the visibility of gay and lesbian images in the media. And on Monday, they could turn on CNN and watch gay and lesbian parents and their children as they took part in the White House Easter Egg Roll.
For all the amazing work done by lobbyists in DC, it may be the actors in Hollywood or the activists in Hoboken that end up reaching middle America. Two years ago, while the politicians in Washington were debating a constitutional amendment to ban gay couples from marrying, thousands of gay and lesbian couples in San Francisco and New Paltz and other cities lined up outside their city buildings to exchange their vows.
And this year, while right-wing politicians dream up new schemes to punish gay and lesbian families, the families themselves showed up on Pennsylvania Avenue to roll some eggs with their kids. And we got to see it all on television.
A long time ago I heard the slogan ?Out of the closets and into the streets!? That still seems fitting today. But in our increasingly media-driven society, there may be another slogan to add to the mix. Out of the closets and into the repeats!
Comments conceal
Troy
April 21 2006, 11:17AM
But as 'vanilla' and 'like them' as we get in so called main stream media we still have a long way to go on so many levels. Just think if we stopped all the internal fighting and ego tripping how really far ahead we'd be...Yeah it's nice to finally be at the same table but the crumbs and scraps just are not enough. I'm a keep fighting.
Bernie
April 21 2006, 1:31PM
But this is the same reason why the Right denounces the media as "liberal" (although most of the major media corporations are owned by conservatives) and wants people to reject these images as part of some grand conspiracy.
This is the same reason why they have agressively worked to overhaul media ownership rules for the past 25 years, so their friends like Rupert Murdoch and Clear Channel Communications can buy up media properties and eventually change these messages.
This is why the Right wants tighter regulations, restrictions and/or big corporate control over Internet access, because they know that mass media in the hands of average citizens, has the power to change the world.
This is why they cutback funding for PBS, NPR and arts organizations, because they know that arts and educators who question the world around them make people think and are a threat to the status quo.
A passive, apathetic public that does whatever the government tells it, is exactly what the Right wants. Culture has always been and will continue to be the primary battleground for the hearts and minds of America.
trent
April 21 2006, 2:19PM
I cannot remember the exact topic, but, sometime ago, a poster on Jasmyne Cannick made a comment which really made me think. To reach a desired goal, one must often build from the point where there is a common agreement. With respect to the topic above, this is gays and lesbians being visible to the general public. Certain prejudices and stereotypes are challenged by our visibility. This is a good thing.
Yet, I worry that the media, especially gay media in what ever medium, is to narrow in its choice and presentation of images when it comes to gay faces of color. At the GLAAD awards, there was a sea of white faces, very few faces of color barring the images the camera strained to locate for a show of diversity. One, two, three, or four blacks on stage or off, for example, does not equal diversity. Moverover, what does it say when every black gay man shown in an advertisement, the rare gay commercial, a television sitcome, and film is desiring the company of white men alone. Is one black man loving another black man so reprehensible to the general public, much less the general gay community?
With respect to the general black community, perhaps if more images of gay and lesbian black couples were visible as those seen in JUMPING THE BROOM, the pronounced bigotry within certain African American circles would lessen.
Yes, we should build from a common desire for equality, but the process within our community and outside of it should be fair in representation.
Doug Douglas
April 21 2006, 6:39PM
Well Trent, I agree with your assessment that, as usual, we (as minorities) are poorly represented; black + gay = [virtually] invisible.
I just saw an interesting item in my local newspaper, copied from the New York Times. A review of the new revenge movie, "Tamara" (FYI reviewer gave it a D+ rating) observes: "Of all the terrible things they are compelled to do to themselves (slice off ears, gnaw off fingertips, chew on glass), the one act deemed so gruesome by the filmmakers that it can't be shown in the same gory detail as the rest is a bit of hynosis-induced lovemaking between two straight dudes. The horror!"
I am guessing that would make a lovemaking scene between two gay black dudes, horror of horrors. Oh wait, I guess I just described black gay porn.
Dan
April 22 2006, 8:14AM
the time is right for show more gay blk.on the media
Valarie
April 22 2006, 2:08PM
Speaking of the GLAAD Awards- I'm on myspace and read an interesting blog written by the creator of Noah's Arc, Patrik-Ian Polk about the whole GLAAD controversy. Very interesting reading, about how GLAAD isn't really interested in anything involving black peeps...The particular blog entry is called "FUCK GLAAD." LOL
Link: www.myspace.com/patrikian
Tommy
April 25 2006, 9:05AM
just found the blog and really like it. Will def be coming back. I agree the lobbyists are fighting a GOP controlled congress. If it was DNC controlled we would still be fighting. The DNC gives lip service, atleast the GOP is upfront about their dislike for gays.