From the ‘How-Far-We-Have-Come’ file: The NY Times (10/24) reports that the BBC’s new mini-series, Cambridge Spies about the shenanigans of four British WWII-era espionage agents (Harold Philby, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt and Donald Maclean) soft-pedals not their gayness but their treason. (Well, Philby was straight; in fact this critique says ‘the dialogue needed a straight man.’) The gay sex is apparent, but not the lives lost to their double dealing. There is some entertainment here though one conversation has Blunt speaking to Queen Elizabeth II telling of his admiration of Marx. Harpo or Groucho, she asks. ‘Karl’ is his answer.
From the ‘Women-To-The-Rescue’ file: the Chicago Tribune (10/22) tells us that a naturally occurring vaginal bacteria that possibly protects women from HIV infection has been successfully engineered for possible general usage. Lactobacillus jensenii has yet to be tested but in-vitro trials look promising.
The Chicago Sun-Times (10/13) has a story of IBM launching a giant marketing effort targeting the gay and lesbian business community. The new ad from the once conservative corporation ties its own global headquarters, Armonk, NY, to Chelsea/ Provincetown/The Castro which are, of course, major centers of gay and lesbian life. The ad features out employees of IBM.
The NY Times (10-19) has an Op-Ed piece by Andrew Sullivan, the gay conservative writer, called ‘Losing a Church, Keeping the Faith.’ The article, a critique of the Catholic Church’s anti-gay policy, says ‘The Church has gone beyond its doctrinal opposition to emotional or sexual relationships between gay men and lesbians to an increasingly shrill campaign against them.’ (Though it’s news to me and probably many Roman Catholic priests that the Church opposes emotional relationships between members of the same sex.) Sullivan feels he cannot leave the Church but he can no longer participate in it. It has broken his heart, he says. This is possibly akin to the so-called ‘liberal bleeding heart.’
Quickies: Novelist Michael Peterson found guilty of murdering wife. Use of male prostitutes by him partial reason for crime. (Chicago Tribune 10/11). * PBS file—Lawrence of Arabia tells his story including gayness and masochism. (NY Times 10/22) * Lesbians blink, when surprised, like heterosexual men. These men do not blink like straight women. All this suggests sexual identity of whatever sort is established before birth. (The Economist 10/11-17) * An obituary on John D. Noble, expert on toys and dolls, in fact, the foremost authority on them. Wrote ‘A Treasury of Beautiful Dolls.’ Was a bishop in the Church of the Beloved Disciple, and was in the process of founding another branch in L.A. with his companion of 44 years, Robert M. Clement, when he died at 80. (NY Times 10/12)