Ray Phoenix (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} participant) wrote,@ 2003-07-13 17:41:00 |
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Meowse's experience talking with young people about gayness
I started to make this a comment on his post, but realized it's a bit long for general consumption. I'm putting it here, because his post hit a nerve, and I'd like to explore it a bit further.
...What a way to make $60 (the great tug of war)...
Isn't it surprising that that kind of success doesn't insulate anyone from the kind of abuse you got later? It shows that society is ready to accept the idea that *anyone* can be gay, whether tall, short, white, black, educated, ignorant, young, or old, and a corollary should be (but isn't well recognized) that one really can't tell that much about the book from looking at the cover.
When I went to Mexico 42 years ago, I was identified as gay in Nogales. They also nicknamed me "Albeese Prayley" (Elvis) because I sang in the public square for a few minutes each of several days running as part of a Red Cross fundraiser. I did some Elvis songs, and I heard "Albeese Preyley es puto" numerous times. I never had the courage to actually confront anyone about it; now I wish I had. I think I also got accused because the people most willing to spend time with me tutoring me in exactly the right way to say "uno, dos, tres, ..." were young (10-12 year old) males, and who knows but that they looked for gay Americans for tips in their spare time? Who knows what would have happened if I had made a big thing of being, or not being, gay? In the early 60's, a person could get seriously injured over any such misunderstanding, it was easier for me to keep travelling and leave the bigots in the dust. For that matter, I might still take the same course; life is still dangerous. Imagine if you had been 5'4" and openly gay last night, and had to walk alone to your car. Hmmmm?
Wow. I guess something in your post must have struck a nerve, yes? I'll take further comments to my own journal (there is probably an unspoken rule about not cluttering up the airwaves in comments). In fact, I'm going to copy the bulk of this to my journal and leave just a pointer here.
Well, that's what I wrote, and I'm sticking to it. I need to learn more about sharing to get much more open about my past. But that's a marker.
Love,
Ray
I started to make this a comment on his post, but realized it's a bit long for general consumption. I'm putting it here, because his post hit a nerve, and I'd like to explore it a bit further.
...What a way to make $60 (the great tug of war)...
Isn't it surprising that that kind of success doesn't insulate anyone from the kind of abuse you got later? It shows that society is ready to accept the idea that *anyone* can be gay, whether tall, short, white, black, educated, ignorant, young, or old, and a corollary should be (but isn't well recognized) that one really can't tell that much about the book from looking at the cover.
When I went to Mexico 42 years ago, I was identified as gay in Nogales. They also nicknamed me "Albeese Prayley" (Elvis) because I sang in the public square for a few minutes each of several days running as part of a Red Cross fundraiser. I did some Elvis songs, and I heard "Albeese Preyley es puto" numerous times. I never had the courage to actually confront anyone about it; now I wish I had. I think I also got accused because the people most willing to spend time with me tutoring me in exactly the right way to say "uno, dos, tres, ..." were young (10-12 year old) males, and who knows but that they looked for gay Americans for tips in their spare time? Who knows what would have happened if I had made a big thing of being, or not being, gay? In the early 60's, a person could get seriously injured over any such misunderstanding, it was easier for me to keep travelling and leave the bigots in the dust. For that matter, I might still take the same course; life is still dangerous. Imagine if you had been 5'4" and openly gay last night, and had to walk alone to your car. Hmmmm?
Wow. I guess something in your post must have struck a nerve, yes? I'll take further comments to my own journal (there is probably an unspoken rule about not cluttering up the airwaves in comments). In fact, I'm going to copy the bulk of this to my journal and leave just a pointer here.
Well, that's what I wrote, and I'm sticking to it. I need to learn more about sharing to get much more open about my past. But that's a marker.
Love,
Ray
