From the ‘Gay-in-the-Pres.-Campaign’ file, the Doonesbury cartoon from the Chicago Tribune (Nov. 19) has two college students discussing the Internet: ‘This is just despicable—the anonymous big lie! This is the third time I’ve gotten a viral e-mail claiming Barack Obama is, you know…’ A pause, then the other young lady asks, ‘What, gay?’ The first answers, ‘No, no. Muslim. He’s gay?’
From the ‘Lets-Learn-a-New-Word’ file, the Chicago Tribune (Nov. 18), though not mentioning the word ‘exegesis’ (the explanation, in detail, of a Biblical issue), certainly and surprisingly (considering most newspapers write for 12-year-old minds) gives an exegesis of the seven passages in the Bible referring to homosexuality (Genesis 2:21-25; Genesis 19: 1-14; Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9 ; 1 Timothy 1:10—these include the Sodom and Gomorrah story among others). The article explains the contemporary context of each passage and the liberal and conservative modern interpretations of each. It also points out inconsistencies in the arguments: For example, Leviticus says men who ‘lie’ with other men should be put to death, yet no one is actually calling for the death of gay people today. Whodah thunk—real scholarship right there in Colonel McCormack’s old Gothic tower in the Loop.
The New York Times (Nov.11) calls conductor Marin Alsop a ‘One-Woman Vanguard.’ The new director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is ‘… the first woman to assume the leadership of a major American orchestra.’ She and her companion, Kristin Jurkscheit, also a classical musician, have a young son and are quietly but completely out.
In a mini-interview-cum-book-review the Chicago Sun-Times (Nov. 18) tells us about Big Wigs: Stories of a Straight Girl in a Drag Queen’s World by Heather Haneman (Drag name = Feather Handlesmen). Ms. Haneman, a Chicagoan, began dancing back-up for drag shows 15 years ago and got hooked when she was mistaken for a man in a Dallas elevator during the Miss Gay U.S.A. pageant. For more about Chicago drag divas Monica Munro and Circuit Mom, read it or see its stage adaptation next spring at Belmont and Broadway’s Lakeshore Theater.
The New York Times (Nov. 12) says giving to gay causes has been rising because A) rich gay people (like Tim Gill, who invented Quark software) are giving and B) other philanthropies are ‘… coming to view gay life as part of mainstream America.’ Even in conservative areas like Colorado and North Carolina, advocate groups for gay people are finding generous funding. Gay kids may be turned out onto the streets by their families but Mr. Gill and his cohorts are making sure there’s often a soft landing from anti-gay bigotry.