Editorial from The Guide	Editorials Archive

Boyd McDonald, the great chronicler of homosexuality, once noted, "I don't consider any gay publications that don't deal with the elemental discussion of gay sexual desire to be serious-- I consider them shallow and frivolous. Those that specialize in reviews of paintings, the ballet, the theater, the books-- no matter how lovely the reviews-- have nothing to do with basic homosexuality." Boyd understood that de-sexing the gay press (either to appease straight sensibilities or to attract advertising dollars) renders it irrelevant. Our fundamental message is about sex; gay publications that don't challenge prevailing sexphobias might as well be Newsweek or USA Today.

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While Boyd was talking about magazines and newspapers, his insight is equally applicable to gay marches and pride parades.

From the recent Millennium March on Washington to the countless gay pride parades coming up this June, organizers have all-too-often been seduced into stripping the events of their "basic homosexuality." The goal becomes to win glowing coverage in the straight media, land big-bucks corporate sponsorships, and attract "important" people to the streets and stages. Dress codes and sanitized agendas are adopted to make sure the event is a "success."

This sort of approval seeking is, in some ways, understandable. For many who've been told all their lives that being queer is sick, the idea of appearing in public identified as gay is a big step. Corporate banners, celebrity endorsements, and tame rhetoric may reassure such timid souls, getting them to take the first steps towards a new life transformed by a different view of sexuality.

While it may be tempting to de-sex our marches and parades in order to permit even the most uptight to participate, there is the danger that such demonstrations will become, like the precious publications Boyd laments, irrelevant. When the goal itself becomes appeasing, rather than challenging, straight sensibilities, marches and pride parades devolve into mere marketing opportunities and audiences for opportunistic politicians. And though we might appreciate having companies and candidates pursuing our dollars and support instead of treating us as demographic pariahs, we should not be misled into thinking that their willingness to take our money and our votes represents any fundamental advance.

Though it's sometimes scary to insist on a radical sexual agenda, let's remember that we bring to a fearful world good news. Our goal is to liberate and enliven-- we can do so loudly and proudly. Offering the world a different, life-affirming, non-fearful way to think about and enjoy sex is infinitely more important than having Al Gore at the podium or getting Budweiser to supply kegs of beer.

At all gay demonstrations let us tell the world that cocksucking, clitlicking, and buttfucking can be ecstatically pleasurable. This is our strongest and most compelling message, a message proclaimed nowhere else.

Let us insist on a sexual morality concerned with honesty, compassion, and love-- not with arbitrary rules about the gender or age or race or marital status of our sexual partner(s).

Let us stand opposed to all legislation that criminalizes sexual expression. Prohibitions against sodomy, prostitution, and public cruising are themselves immoral and destructive, and we should say so.

Let us have the courage to fight new "sex offender" laws that impose Apartheid-like restrictions on record numbers of non-violent "perverts." We must oppose Stalinistic sex gulags being built for those who-- though not serving time for any crime-- have unacceptable sexual attitudes.

The enduring message of gay liberation is that we all gain when we stop condemning "deviant" sexual expression-- we can replace fear and loathing with joy and acceptance. To give energy and lasting meaning to our marches and parades, amidst all the rainbow hoopla we must keep the focus on sex.