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LGBT HISTORY


LGBT History



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LGBT History
Image by Earthworm Inspired by the film Milk, I dug out my collection of buttons
to re-live my own gay history which was very closely interwoven with what was
happening in San Francisco. I've laid the buttons out in chronological order.
The first button was from the movie The Word is Out which I saw in 1978, in my
Sophomore year at UC Santa Cruz with Panda my third female lover at UCSC. (She's
now married to a man she dated soon after that. It's her little sister who
turned out to be a lesbian.) I had officially come out in the winter of my
Freshman year having slept with enough guys to know the difference. Plus I had
had a high school girl lover and others I was sweet on. At least one for every
year. Santa Cruz was also where I marched (rode my unicycle actually) in my
first Gay Pride march. I also protested the Brigg's initiative (which would have
ousted gay/lesbian teachers and possibly any teacher saying seeming to support
us). It failed. The summer before I had attended my firt SF pride parade, the
one where a poster size picture of Anita Bryant was held up next to pictures of
Hitler and Mussolini. Only I didn't make it to the parade part because I was
working at my summer job at a gas station. (Worse recession year ever for summer
jobs.) I got there just as the weather turned gray and they were packing up the
booths. I picked up a postcard that said "Dear Anita, Having a gay time. Wish
you were here." I cannot find that card right now. I moved back home to the Bay
Area the year that Harvey Milk was shot. I was busing tables during the lunch
shift when someone told me the news. I was stunned and couldn't tell anyone why.
I saw the candlelight march on TV with my dad with whom I was living at the
time. I very much wanted to jump in the family station wagon and drive up there
to join them, but I couldn't tell him why. I was out to him, but we didn't
discuss it much past the initial conversation. I was also watching TV with him
when the twinkie verdict came down and the gay community went to city hall and
busted a window or two and overturned three cop cars and set fire to them. That
part wasn't mentioned in the film. "That will be the end of the gays," said my
dad who anticipated a crack down on the gay community. He couldn't have been
more wrong. Harvey's message was that we had to come out. I realized when I saw
the film that that was the message I politicized and lived for the next decade
(and the rest of my life). In 1981 I got myself a motorcycle and a full suit of
black leather. The jacket pictured here. My kung fu thighs won't fit in the
pants anymore. The whistle and the leathers and later martial arts were my
response to the fag bashing of the times. The second button in this line-up is
from 1979 when I went to Gay Night at the local amusement park on the eve of my
21st birthday with my pal Stacy. That was something, to infiltrate such a family
park with us perverts. It made the staff rather nervous. At midnight we were at
the local lesbian bar, the Daybreak (named after Joan Baez for her bisexual
leaningsâ€"all true). There I had my first legal drink. The next few years were
marked by the Dykes on Bikes. I wasn't actually a member, but they allowed any
woman with a motorcycle to follow behind them in the parade. Stacy rode on the
back of her lover Angel's bike and we rode side by side, my then lover behind
me. The first year we rode, they put us at the middle of the parade in an
attempt to molify those who wanted to purge the event of the pervert aspects of
the community in the hopes of becoming more acceptable. This included drag
queens, us and that naked guy wearing the boa constrictor. (I still say it won't
work; they'll hate us more because we look normal, but we still do the nasty in
ways that revolt themâ€"men at least, lesbians are just male porn fodder.)
Nevertheless it was one of the highlights of my young life to be so out in the
open being cheered like that. The following year we were back at the head of the
parade. Soon after that we were wearing black ribbons to mark the appearance of
AIDS. Everything I learned about community and crisis came in the years that
followed. Under parental pressure I sold my bike in exchange for the safer
transport of a car. So no more dykes on bikes. There's a gap in my collection
because nothing could compare to being in the parade and I got tired of the
lesbian community and the political correctness of it. I do remember I was there
for the appearance of the first lipstick lesbians. I had returned to the
community when I was living with a woman who was best friends with a lesbian
celebrity. There's a 1991 button from Living Sober, the humongous LGBT AA event
where she often did her best speaking appearances. Five years or so later she
got together with a man and the lesbian community never let her hear the end of
it (we are still friends though). Her public appearances were demoted to
introducing other "cliteratti" some of whom I got to know too. When I met
Catherine, she was a filmmaker and had a press pass. She and her husband and I
were free to roam the parade beyond the barricades. The next year her movie
"Queers Among Queers" was in the film festival. By that time the parade was so
big, it wasn't worth going to and we retired to the comfort of the film festival
for the Sunday shorts. So no more parade buttons after '95. The buttons from the
DC march and AIDS walk were gifts. I did not actually attend. I threw out all
the souvenir condoms thrown from floats; they disintegrated.

Royal Opera House
Image by Wootang01 9.4.09 The flight arrived on time; and the twelve hours while
on board passed quickly and without incident. To be sure, the quality of the
Cathay Pacific service was exemplary once again. Heathrow reminds me of Newark
International. The décor comes straight out of the sterile 80's and is less an
eyesore than an insipid background to the rhythm of human activity, such hustle
and bustle, at the fore. There certainly are faces from all races present,
creating a rich mosaic of humanity which is refreshing if not completely
revitalizing after swimming for so long in a sea of Chinese faces in Hong Kong.
Internet access is sealed in England, it seems. Nothing is free; everything is
egregiously monetized from the wireless hotspots down to the desktop terminals.
I guess Hong Kong has spoiled me with its abundant, free access to the
information superhighway. 11.4.09 Despite staying in a room with five other
backpackers, I have been sleeping well. The mattress and pillow are firm; my
earplugs keep the noise out; and the sleeping quarters are as dark as a cave
when the lights are out, and only as bright as, perhaps, a dreary rainy day when
on. All in all, St. Paul's is a excellent place to stay for the gregarious,
adventurous, and penurious city explorer - couchsurfing may be a tenable
alternative; I'll test for next time. Yesterday Connie and I gorged ourselves at
the borough market where there were all sorts of delectable, savory victuals.
There was definitely a European flavor to the food fair: simmering sausages were
to be found everywhere; and much as the meat was plentiful, and genuine, so were
the dairy delicacies, in the form of myriad rounds of cheese, stacked high
behind checkered tabletops. Of course, we washed these tasty morsels down with
copious amounts of alcohol that flowed from cups as though amber waterfalls. For
the first time I tried mulled wine, which tasted like warm, rancid fruit punch -
the ideal tonic for a drizzling London day, I suppose. We later killed the
afternoon at the pub, shooting the breeze while imbibing several diminutive
half-pints in the process. Getting smashed at four in the afternoon doesn't seem
like such a bad thing anymore, especially when you are having fun in the company
of friends; I can more appreciate why the English do it so much! Earlier in the
day, we visited the Tate Modern. Its turbine room lived up to its prominent
billing what with a giant spider, complete with bulbous egg sac, anchoring the
retrospective exhibit. The permanent galleries, too, were a delight upon which
to feast one's eyes. Picasso, Warhol and Pollock ruled the chambers of the upper
floors with the products of their lithe wrists; and I ended up becoming a huge
fan of cubism, while developing a disdain for abstract art and its vacuous
images, which, I feel, are devoid of both motivation and emotion. My first trip
yesterday morning was to Emirates Stadium, home of the Arsenal Gunners. It
towers imperiously over the surrounding neighborhood; yet for all its majesty,
the place sure was quiet! Business did pick up later, however, once the armory
shop opened, and dozens of fans descended on it like bees to a hive. I, too,
swooped in on a gift-buying mission, and wound up purchasing a book for Godfrey,
a scarf for a student, and a jersey - on sale, of course - for good measure. I'm
sitting in the Westminster Abbey Museum now, resting my weary legs and burdened
back. So far, I've been verily impressed with what I've seen, such a confluence
of splendor and history before me that it would require days to absorb it all,
when regretfully I can spare only a few hours. My favorite part of the abbey is
the poets corner where no less a literary luminary than Samuel Johnson rests in
peace - his bust confirms his homely presence, which was so vividly captured in
his biography. For lunch I had a steak and ale pie, served with mash, taken
alongside a Guinness, extra cold - 2 degrees centigrade colder, the bartender
explained. It went down well, like all the other delicious meals I've had in
England; and no doubt by now I have grown accustomed to inebriation at half past
two. Besides, Liverpool were playing inspired football against Blackburn; and my
lunch was complete. Having had my fill of football, I decided to skip my ticket
scalping endeavor at Stamford Bridge and instead wandered over to the British
Museum to inspect their extensive collections. Along the way, my eye caught a
theater, its doors wide open and admitting customers. With much rapidity, I
subsequently checked the show times, saw that a performance was set to begin,
and at last rushed to the box office to purchase a discounted ticket - if you
call a 40 pound ticket a deal, that is. That's how I grabbed a seat to watch
Hairspray in the West End. The show was worth forty pounds. The music was
addictive; and the stage design and effects were not so much kitschy as
delightfully stimulating - the pulsating background lights were at once
scintillating and penetrating. The actors as well were vivacious, oozing
charisma while they danced and delivered lines dripping in humor. Hairspray is a
quality production and most definitely recommended. 12.4.09 At breakfast I sat
across from a man who asked me to which country Hong Kong had been returned -
China or Japan. That was pretty funny. Then he started spitting on my food as he
spoke, completely oblivious to my breakfast becoming the receptacle in which the
fruit of his inner churl was being placed. I guess I understand the convention
nowadays of covering one's mouth whilst speaking and masticating at the same
time! We actually conversed on London life in general, and I praised London for
its racial integration, the act of which is a prodigious leap of faith for any
society, trying to be inclusive, accepting all sorts of people. It wasn't as
though the Brits were trying in vain to be all things to all men, using Spanish
with the visitors from Spain, German with the Germans and, even, Hindi with the
Indians, regardless of whether or not Hindi was their native language; not even
considering the absurd idea of encouraging the international adoption of their
language; thereby completely keeping English in English hands and allowing its
proud polyglots to "practice" their languages. Indeed, the attempt of the
Londoners to avail themselves of the rich mosaic of ethnic knowledge, and to
seek a common understanding with a ubiquitous English accent is an exemplar, and
the bedrock for any world city. I celebrated Jesus' resurrection at the St.
Andrew's Street Church in Cambridge. The parishioners of this Baptist church
were warm and affable, and I met several of them, including one visiting
(Halliday) linguistics scholar from Zhongshan university in Guangzhou, who in
fact had visited my tiny City University of Hong Kong in 2003. The service
itself was more traditional and the believers fewer in number than the
"progressive" services at any of the charismatic, evangelical churches in HK;
yet that's what makes this part of the body of Christ unique; besides, the
message was as brief as a powerpoint slide, and informative no less; the power
word which spoke into my life being a question from John 21:22 - what is that to
you? Big trees; exquisite lawns; and old, pointy colleges; that's Cambridge in a
nutshell. Sitting here, sipping on a half-pint of Woodforde's Wherry, I've had a
leisurely, if not languorous, day so far; my sole duty consisting of walking
around while absorbing the verdant environment as though a sponge, camera in
tow. I am back at the sublime beer, savoring a pint of Sharp's DoomBar before my
fish and chips arrive; the drinking age is 18, but anyone whose visage even
hints of youthful brilliance is likely to get carded these days, the bartender
told me. The youth drinking culture here is almost as twisted as the university
drinking culture in America. My stay in Cambridge, relaxing and desultory as it
may be, is about to end after this late lunch. I an not sure if there is
anything left to see, save for the American graveyard which rests an impossible
two miles away. I have had a wonderful time in this town; and am thankful for
the access into its living history - the residents here must demonstrate
remarkable patience and tolerance what with so many tourists ambling on the
streets, peering - and photographing - into every nook and cranny. 13.4.09 There
are no rubbish bins, yet I've seen on the streets many mixed race couples in
which the men tend to be white - the women also belonging to a light colored
ethnicity, usually some sort of Asian; as well saw some black dudes and Indian
dudes with white chicks. People here hold doors, even at the entrance to the
toilet. Sometimes it appears as though they are going out on a limb, just
waiting for the one who will take the responsibility for the door from them, at
which point I rush out to relieve them of such a fortuitous burden. I visited
the British Museum this morning. The two hours I spent there did neither myself
nor the exhibits any justice because there really is too much to survey, enough
captivating stuff to last an entire day, I think. The bottomless well of
artifacts from antiquity, drawing from sources as diverse as Korea, and
Mesopotamia, is a credit to the British empire, without whose looting most of
this amazing booty would be unavailable for our purview; better, I think, for
these priceless treasures to be open to all in the grandest supermarket of
history than away from human eyes, and worst yet, in the hands of unscrupulous
collectors or in the rubbish bin, possibly. Irene and I took in the ballet
Giselle at The Royal Opera House in the afternoon. The building is a plush
marvel, and a testament to this city's love for the arts. The ballet itself was
satisfying, the first half being superior to the second, in which the nimble
dancers demonstrated their phenomenal dexterity in, of all places, a graveyard
covered in a cloak of smoke and darkness. I admit, their dance of the dead, in
such a gloomy necropolis, did strike me as, strange. Two amicable ladies from
Kent convinced me to visit their hometown tomorrow, where, they told me, the
authentic, "working" Leeds Castle and the mighty interesting home of Charles
Darwin await. I'm nursing a pint of Green King Ruddles and wondering about the
profusion of British ales and lagers; the British have done a great deed for the
world by creating an interminable line of low-alcohol session beers that can be
enjoyed at breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner; and their disservice is this:
besides this inexhaustible supply of cheap beer ensnaring my inner alcoholic, I
feel myself putting on my freshman fifteen, almost ten years after the fact; I
am going to have to run a bit harder back in Hong Kong if I want to burn all
this malty fuel off. Irene suggested I stop by the National Art Gallery since we
were in the area; and it was an hour well spent. The gallery currently presents
a special exhibit on Picasso, the non-ticketed section of which features several
seductive renderings, including David spying on Bathsheba - repeated in clever
variants - and parodies of other masters' works. Furthermore, the main gallery
houses two fabulous portraits by Joshua Reynolds, who happens to be favorite of
mine, he in life being a close friend of Samuel Johnson - I passed by Boswells,
where its namesake first met Johnson, on my way to the opera house. 14.4.09 I
prayed last night, and went through my list, lifting everyone on it up to the
Lord. That felt good; that God is alive now, and ever present in my life and in
the lives of my brothers and sisters. Doubtless, then, I have felt quite
wistful, as though a specter in the land of the living, being in a place where
religious fervor, it seems, is a thing of the past, a trifling for many, to be
hidden away in the opaque corners of centuries-old cathedrals that are more
expensive tourist destinations than liberating homes of worship these days.
Indeed, I have yet to see anyone pray, outside of the Easter service which I
attended in Cambridge - for such an ecstatic moment in verily a grand church,
would you believe that it was only attended by at most three dozen spirited
ones. The people of England, and Europe in general, have, it is my hope, only
locked away the Word, relegating it to the quiet vault of their hearts. May it
be taken out in the sudden pause before mealtimes and in the still crisp
mornings and cool, silent nights. There is still hope for a revival in this
place, for faith to rise like that splendid sun every morning. God would love to
rescue them, to deliver them in this day, it is certain. I wonder what Londoners
think, if anything at all, about their police state which, like a vine in the
shadows, has taken root in all corners of daily life, from the terrorist
notifications in the underground, which implore Londoners to report all things
suspicious, to the pair of dogs which eagerly stroll through Euston. What makes
this all the more incredible is the fact that even the United States, the
indomitable nemesis of the fledgling, rebel order, doesn't dare bombard its
citizens with such fear mongering these days, especially with Obama in office;
maybe we've grown wise in these past few years to the dubious returns of
surrendering civil liberties to the state, of having our bags checked everywhere
- London Eye; Hairspray; and The Royal Opera House check bags in London while
the museums do not; somehow, that doesn't add up for me. I'm in a majestic
bookshop on New Street in Birmingham, and certainly to confirm my suspicions,
there are just as many books on the death of Christianity in Britain as there
are books which attempt to murder Christianity everywhere. I did find, however,
a nice biography on John Wesley by Roy Hattersley and The Screwtape Letters by
C.S. Lewis. I may pick up the former. Lunch with Sally was pleasant and
mirthful. We dined at a French restaurant nearby New Street - yes, Birmingham is
a cultural capitol! Sally and I both tried their omelette, while her boyfriend
had the fish, without chips. Conversation was light, the levity was there and so
was our reminiscing about those fleeting moments during our first year in Hong
Kong; it is amazing how friendships can resume so suddenly with a smile. On
their recommendation, I am on my way to Warwick Castle - they also suggested
that I visit Cadbury World, but they cannot take on additional visitors at the
moment, the tourist office staff informed me, much to my disappointment!
Visiting Warwick Castle really made for a great day out. The castle, parts of
which were established by William the Conquerer in 1068, is as much a kitschy
tourist trap as a meticulous preservation of history, at times a sillier version
of Ocean Park while at others a dignified dedication to a most glorious,
inexorably English past. The castle caters to all visitors; and not
surprisingly, that which delighted all audiences was a giant trebuchet siege
engine, which for the five p.m. performance hurled a fireball high and far into
the air - fantastic! Taliban beware! 15.4.09 I'm leaving on a jet plane this
evening; don't know when I'll be back in England again. I'll miss this quirky,
yet endearing place; and that I shall miss Irene and Tom who so generously
welcomed me into their home, fed me, and suffered my use of their toilet and
shower goes without saying. I'm grateful for God's many blessings on this trip.
On the itinerary today is a trip to John Wesley's home, followed by a visit to
the Imperial War Museum. Already this morning I picked up a tube of Oilatum, a
week late perhaps, which Teri recommended I use to treat this obstinate, dermal
weakness of mine - I'm happy to report that my skin has stopped crying. John
Wesley's home is alive and well. Services are still held in the chapel everyday;
and its crypt, so far from being a cellar for the dead, is a bright, spacious
museum in which all things Wesley are on display - I never realized how much of
an iconic figure he became in England; at the height of this idol frenzy, ironic
in itself, he must have been as popular as the Beatles were at their apex. The
house itself is a multi-story edifice with narrow, precipitous staircases and
spacious rooms decorated in an 18th century fashion. I found Samuel Johnson's
house within a maze of red brick hidden alongside Fleet Street. To be in the
home of the man who wrote the English dictionary, and whose indefatigable love
for obscure words became the inspiration for my own lexical obsession, this, by
far, is the climax of my visit to England! The best certainly has been saved for
last. There are a multitude of portraits hanging around the house like ornaments
on a tree. Every likeness has its own story, meticulously retold on the crib
sheets in each room. Celebrities abound, including David Garrick and Sir Joshua
Reynolds, who painted several of the finer images in the house. I have developed
a particular affinity for Oliver Goldsmith, of whom Boswell writes, "His person
was short, his countenance coarse and vulgar, his deportment that of a scholar
awkwardly affecting the easy gentleman. It appears as though I, too, could use a
more flattering description of myself! I regretfully couldn't stop to try the
curry in England; I guess the CityU canteen's take on the dish will have to do.
I did, however, have the opportune task of flirting with the cute Cathay Pacific
counter staff who checked me in. She was gorgeous in red, light powder on her
cheeks, with real diamond earrings, she said; and her small, delicate face,
commanded by a posh British accent rendered her positively irresistible,
electrifying. Not only did she grant me an aisle seat but she had the gumption
to return my fawning with zest; she must be a pro at this by now. I saw her
again as she was pulling double-duty, collecting tickets prior to boarding. She
remembered my quest for curry; and in the fog of infatuation, where nary a man
has been made, I fumbled my words like the sloppy kid who has had too much
punch. I am just an amateur, alas, an "Oliver Goldsmith" with the ladies - I got
no game - booyah! Some final, consequential bits: because of the chavs, Burberry
no longer sells those fashionable baseball caps; because of the IRA, rubbish
bins are no longer a commodity on the streets of London, and as a result, the
streets and the Underground of the city are a soiled mess; and because of other
terrorists from distant, more arid lands, going through a Western airport has
taken on the tedium of perfunctory procedure that doesn't make me feel any safer
from my invisible enemies. At last, I saw so many Indians working at Heathrow
that I could have easily mistaken the place for Mumbai. Their presence surprised
me because their portion of the general population surely must be less than
their portion of Heathrow staff, indicating some mysterious hiring bias.
Regardless, they do a superb job with cursory airport checks, and in general are
absurdly funny and witty when not tactless. That's all for England!




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