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From: shore@adobe.UUCP (Andrew Shore)
Newsgroups: net.motss
Subject: Re: why gays like to be visible
Message-ID: <521@adobe.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 19-Mar-85 12:36:19 EST
Article-I.D.: adobe.521
Posted: Tue Mar 19 12:36:19 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 22-Mar-85 02:53:10 EST
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Organization: Adobe Systems, Palo Alto
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> I'm curious. Why do gay people like to be so visible. Why is it so important
> for gays to be able to proudly say in the middle of a crowd that he/she is
> gay. What if I was in a crowded theater and I yelled "fire". It almost
> sounds like they want to legalize that.

I think you've got it backwards.  Gay people are inherently INVISIBLE.
Unlike many minority groups (and in spite of the stereotypes) you cannot
tell a gay person "by sight" -- by their physical appearance, the color of
their skin, their clothing, ....  Because of this, gay people are simply
assumed to be straight in many situations.  Gay people can "pass"
unidentified (if they so choose) in mainstream society.

When I was an undergrad at Cornell, the gay student organization promoted a
concept called "National Gay Bluejeans Day" -- a day when all gay people
were supposed to wear bluejeans to identify themselves, show solidarity,
etc.  It was AMAZING how this got many straight people up in arms.  The
reaction was:
	How dare those gays prohibit MY right to wear jeans today.
	People might think that I'M gay!  What else am I going to 
	wear?

The whole point was to emphasize that gays are otherwise unidentifiable --
that we blend in like bluejean-clad students.  And that anyone you know 
(your roommate, your professor, your son or daughter) just might be gay 
without your knowing it.

Because of this invisiblity, many gay people make a point of identifying
themselves as such as a consiousness-raising gesture.  The message being:
	You know me and respect me as a {friend, collegue, ...}
	but did you also know that I am gay?  You see, you can't
	tell by looking, but we are everywhere, and your assumptions
	that everyone around you is "just like you" may not be
	quite right.

Certainly there is a risk of "offending" others, but do you really care?
The benefits of opening someones eyes should far outweigh the costs.

Quentin Crisp once said that gay people run around saying
	"we are just like everyone else"
but that will never work because "everyone else" doesn't run
around saying that.

--Andy