The Gay Rights Movement Has Gone Mainstream -- But Is That a Good Thing?

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.alternet.org/rights/151399/the_gay_rights_movement_has_gone_mainstream_--_but_is_that_a_good_thing

New York's gay community is on the verge of winning the kind of equality that will make us just like everyone else. But do we want to be just like everyone else?

As the sweltering month of June ushers in Pride, who knew that it would also beget one of the gayest summer blockbusters of the year—X-Men: First Class? The central dilemma facing the mutants as they discover and learn to accept their super powers is whether they hide their gifts to fit into human society, or revel in and celebrate what makes them different, knowing that if they do, they’ll never quite fit in? In other words, what is gained, and what is lost, by going mainstream?

It’s a question well worth asking in 2011, as many of the cultural and political goals of the mainstream gay rights movement have been won, or are close to being so. Put aside for a moment the depressing news about youth suicides, bullying and gay bashings—or the temporarily thwarted push for marriage equality in New York and the rest of the country. Instead, squint your eyes a little, and take a look around. It’s been a hell of a year for the gays.

While the president finally moved to repeal DADT, and he along with every celebrity and Mayor Bloomberg rushed to shoot their “It Gets Better” videos, Mother Monster, patron saint of the born-this-way gays, garnered more followers on Twitter than the President. At suburban multiplexes audiences fell hard for the two moms portrayed in Academy Award-nominated The Kids Are All Right, while on the small screen the gays snagged their own reality show, The A-List: New York; Modern Family’s gay dads were nominated for Emmys (Eric Stonestreet won); and Glee’s Chris Colfer won a Golden Globe for brilliantly bringing Kurt Hummel to life each week. Colfer was also named one of the 100 most influential people on the planet this year according to Time Magazine.

All of which is to say, in 2011, the gays have arrived—and are now firmly entrenched in American mainstream culture. A cause for celebration, right? Not everybody thinks so. This year as we celebrate Pride, there’s a notable queer backlash a-brewin’ on the margins. It’s not quite the gay Tea Party movement, but more voices seem to be proclaiming: we’re here, we’re queer, and there are a lot more interesting things about gay life than Lady Gaga’s new album or going to the chapel.

“In my standup routine lately I’ve been pleading with the rich gays not to start getting married and hav children,” says performer and writer Mike Albo,. “It’s a real problem. How are they going to afford those big houses on Fire Island that we get to crash at if they have to pay that private-school tuition? How mainstream do we get before we all become Republicans?”

Interesting commentary at link..

[William769]

1. We will never be " just like everyone else"

But that doesn't mean we shouldn't have the same rights "just like everyone else".

[Doctor Hurt]

5. No one is just like everyone else

once you dig deep enough, anyway.

[xchrom]

2. It's something to think about: the price of conformity.

It really can be a killer.

I support marriage = not for my self but for those of my people who want it.

My life partner has been dead for a long time - don't want to do that again.

[msongs]

3. be sure to let us know when DADT is actually repealed & discharges stop nt

[closeupready]

4. The silly nature of this rant lies in the fact that most gay people remain closeted.

Either in whole or in part. The article's author may or may not be, but most gay people are, IMO, as are likely the party promoters and others who are quoted and referenced in the article as being gay people whose opinions matter.

Thus, in order for him to successfully adopt the royal "we" ("Is this what we really want?"), he needs to be speaking from a place in life where he can observe the societal and legislative changes taking place as benefiting him. Otherwise, he just seems like a dilettante to me, dabbling in gayness when it suits him, and going back into the closet when it doesn't.

Hard to take people like that and their thoughts seriously. Which, I know the article makes some tongue-in-cheek, campy points but seems to try to address concerns in a serious manner. But it fails, IMO.

Obviously, everyone is entitled to disagree with me. :)