Just in time for Valentine’s Day!
Unless you are the product of a determined woman and a turkey baster, test tube, freezer, alien implant, or whatever the new craze in Hollywood medicine might be, chances are you have a heterosexual person to thank for your existence. And even with the aforementioned alternatives to “doing it the old fashioned way” you still cannot have a viable human embryo without both sperm (male) and egg (female) coming together and each contributing 23 chromosomes to the cause.
Nevertheless a campus group, Direct Action to Stop Heterosexism (DASH), felt compelled to host a “Gay Kiss-in” in Ho Plaza this past Thursday afternoon. Their reasoning? (Or lack thereof?) According to protest participant Ashley McGovern (09′): “Heterosexism is kinda like homophobia except heterosexism has to do with all facets of society…so the normalization of heterosexuality in society….”
Apparently the reality of human civilization being built upon a man sleeping with a woman (even marrying her for Pete’s sake!) for fun, folly and off-spring is so terrible to stomach that it must be dealt with in the name of some pseudo-intellectual, “politically correct” cause. While prelims loom and the economy remains in turmoil, some twenty people took time out to essentially shame the human race for procreating for generations and then making the assumption that doing so is… well… “normal.”
Moreover, if you really read what the Sun printed, McGovern’s quote also suggests that those of you who dare to be heterosexual are, as a consequence, homophobic. Being supportive of gay friends or family must not count. The Sun’s coverage of DASH implies is that if you are not part of the gay kissing cause, then you may as well start carrying your “God Hates ___ ” signs to class. To see this kind of logical fallacy in action is a sad and shameful state of affairs on a campus noted for its pursuit of tolerance and diversity (no matter how shrill the pursuit may be…*ahem*) Besides alienating members of the Cornell community for basically no reason, this sort of whining – or in this case, kissing for attention- only serves to perpetuate victim mentality-and I won’t even mention what it implies about maturity. In the name of “visibility” and “empowerment” is it really worth driving wedges between people (who were otherwise walking to class minding their own business)?
Speaking of division, the Sun article also briefly touched on recent national news in the GLBT community, namely the passing of Proposition 8 in California and the invitation of Rick Warren to Obama’s inaugural speech. In a hurry to press DASH’s agenda, they [as per usual] left out several important facts:
*Most of the people who voted yes on Prop 8 were Obama supporters. And according to the New York Daily News: “California’s black and Latino voters, who turned out in droves for Barack Obama provided key support for a state ban on same-sex marriage.”
* California is not the first state to vote against gay marriage. Back in 2004, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah “all approved anti-same-sex marriage amendments by double-digit margins” according to CNN.
* President Obama, while yet promising all kinds of goodies to the gay community, is NOT in favor of gay marriage – neither is Vice President Joe Biden. Obama claims he’s for some kind of “civil union” but on gay marriage he told the Chicago Tribune: “I’m a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.” This, however, was largely downplayed in the media before the election. (For more information on voter ignorance, check out www.howobamagotelected.com if you haven’t already.)
* In addition to the evangelical pastor Rick Warren, New Hampshire’s openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, was also invited to open the inaugural ceremony with prayer. Talk about reaching across the aisle…
Now, unlike our fellow liberal NY Ivy, Columbia, Cornell has not yet played host to a known terrorist such as Iran’s leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the man who calls America “the great Satan” and who also denies the existence of gays in his country. Oh, and in his spare time, he hangs, shoots, jails and tortures to death any imaginary or real gays stuck living in Iran. Having a gay kiss-in during an Ahmadinejad speech would probably be a remarkable demonstration – but in Ithaca?
As the Sun article noted, sure, people looked – as anyone might when passing by twenty people making out in public – but no one heckled (“get a room!”) or told them to stop. If gay kissing can go off without any hitches from horrible heterosexuals, then I believe this is to our credit as campus.
However, it still isn’t enough for DASH, as McGovern bemoans the “dirty looks” on other occasions given to her and others for their gay PDA. To that I reply, if we can put down the political agenda for a second, here’s a news flash: PDA, whether the couple involved is gay or straight, is usually annoying, if not obnoxious.
Especially if the witness happens to be single.
Especially if the witness is writing in a coffee shop and the couple the next table over just can’t seem to contain their hormonal enthusiasm for one another.
Does this mean then that single people should protest Valentine’s Day and the “normalization” of “coupledom” in society? Absolutely not, because then the chocolate wouldn’t be half-price the day after, and again, most of us are happy products of “copulation.” Still the example above should hopefully prove a point about what it means to be free to live the lifestyle of your choice vs. expecting everyone in the general public to embrace your lifestyle choices and even going so far as to insist everyone react favorably when you choose to impose your choices on them.
So then what did the DASH kiss-in actually accomplish?
Steve Gravani (’12) perhaps sums it up the best: “They were just out there holding a banner that said ‘queer kissing in progress’ and they were here for a few minutes, and then they just left. I’m not sure what they were trying to accomplish…” Gravani goes on to suggest that perhaps if DASH had provided more information about their cause, it might’ve been more productive.
To paraphrase McGovern, the kiss-in was about “visibility” and “having fun.” Ok, mission accomplished, but then how is your mission ultimately any different from those who engage in casual exhibitionism on any given day?
Alas, no matter how many elitist “isms” or acronyms one throws out in an attempt to bolster credibility, there is nothing that will override what is really a complete lack of logic, nor will any fancy schematics substitute having an actual altruistic cause (just imagine where those spin the bottle funds could be donated…)
For those of you liberal readers who *gasp* pick up our fair publication to at least entertain an alternate point of view than what is typically expressed by the majority on this campus, kudos! If you read this far though and were expecting a rant against gays, well, then I’m sorry to disappoint. Even though there will always be those in society who are truly bigoted, I’m happy to report that the majority of us on the conservative side of the fence do not in fact hate gay people, and *gasp!* there is even such a thing as a gay Republican! Really! And no, I don’t just mean messed up perverts like Mark Foley and Ted Haggarty – yet it is interesting that the media in both instances chose to use the “gayness” of these men as the reason behind their legally and morally reprehensible decisions.
By the same token though, to place the pursuit of civil liberties under the same lens as an agenda that proclaims society should “x-out heteronormativity” brings even less dignity to the gay community — just the word ‘heteronormativity’ sounds and looks laughable and philosophically contradicts the whole notion of democratic pluralism in which different people can all coexist – not necessarily liking each other, mind you, but coexist. (Oh, and in order to have a society in the first place, you still need to make room for us “breeders.”) Thus, if anything, DASH and other liberal whiners who decry life, liberty (not to mention private property) in America should focus their attention towards “x-ing out” tyrants like Ahmadinejad, Marzouk and Bin Laden, all of whom would surely unite the gays and straights in misery if given their way in the world.
The reason there are no replies except this one is that this article, clearly, speaks for itself. The argument is so stupid that no one needs to even counter it.
I hope beyond hope that Clara, the author, is going into public policy. With logic this idiotic, liberals everywhere are guaranteed to rule the country for a while to come!
Sir, please refrain from ad hominem attacks on this forum. This is a place for intellectual discussion, not ill placed mockery. We respect your opinion, but not your attacks. Thank you.
I’m tickled that weeks later there’s such a fuss about my article. Unfortunately though it doesn’t seem that any of the people complaining have actually *read* it. I chose not to bother responding to the first poster because the statement was completely inane (although I was tempted to tell him that we can’t all be gay, fabulous and from Scotland).
As for these recent ad-hominem users who really don’t seem to get what I’m talking about, I’ll simplify: My article is not against gays or gay kissing. All I’m pointing out is (in light of the Cornell Sun’s article on the subject) is that the agenda behind DASH’s kiss-in is borderline ridiculous. Heterosexuality in society is not the problem. Gay or straight, it doesn’t matter if one chooses to kiss and grope in public — it’s not going to make people accept you anymore than they do already. But more importantly, there’s a difference between having the freedom to live as you choose vs. trying to impose your life choices on people (who were basically content to mind their own business) under the guise of some pseudo-intellectual rhetoric that sounds a> militant and b> intolerant. From what I’ve seen living in Ithaca, basically the status quo is ‘live and let live’ — and as a campus Cornell is about as chill and liberal as it gets. So as the people quoted in the Sun said, no one is exactly sure what the “protest” was attempting to accomplish, other than it being merely a plug for attention. I then went on to suggest that if you’re going to get attention, then why not focus it on more important concerns within the gay community — but I guess that went over some people’s heads. Cest la vie.
I’m so glad I don’t go to Cornell! Heterosexism is deleterious in that it assumes that all people are heterosexual. The primary argument for the abolition of a heterosexist society is that it denies any room for GLBTQ individuals. That being said, the whole point of anti-heterosexist campaigns is to disrupt heterosexual exhibitionism such as the one you had at your campus. All the DASH group needed to do was to crash the party. Nothing more needed to be done. The truth is that heterosexism is more an abstract reality, and the abolishment does not necessitate the abolishment of heterosexual individuals. It does, however, seek to limit or destroy the framework that tells society, “straigt man, good; gay man, bad.” As society is made up of more individuals than just straights, anti-heterosexism tries to make salient the millions of markers of this mentality in society. Ever watch a commercial? How about a cleaning commercial? I dare you to find one where the woman isn’t demonstrating or otherwise using the product!! How about a commercial for a ED drug, do they show gay couples? How about a dominoes commercial? Do they show a gay family eating at the table? THAT is heterosexism! Once you open your eyes to it, signs, symbols, speeches, commercials, TV, radio, movies, personages, acts, EVERYTHING leaves out LGBTQ people! The rarity of a commercial with LGBTQ people is not enough for people like your school’s DASH team, that is what they are trying to tell you. Why not listen? After all, imagine if everyone ask YOU growing up why you weren’t interesting in BOYS if you’re a man, or if everyone asked why you were interested in GIRLS if you are a woman? That feeling you would get when asked, if the same one I felt when asked why I wasn’t interested in girls!!
A little empathy goes a long way. Try to be more tolerant.
A recent government survey found that 4 percent of adults aged 18-45 identified as ‘homosexual’ or ‘bisexual.’So Dominoes probably feels their money is most effective with commercials reflecting the other 96%. Stuff like the Ho(mo) kiss-in adds some fun atmosphere to the day.