The goal of the gay rights movement is to remove the stigma of being a gay man; that and ending the persecution of gay men. Until 1969 it was a crime in Canadian law for men to have sex with men. The decriminalization of male homosexuality in 1969 was welcomed, but the stigma of male homosexuality lingered. Growing up gay, the onus was on me and other young gays to prove to society that we are not perverts. We faced discrimination in employment and housing and ostracism from family, friends, and society at large. It was not until 2005 that same-sex couples could marry. I am sixty years old and happy to report that as a gay man, I live openly with my husband Mika and participate freely and fully in society. No one, other than a handful of religious and social conservatives, cares that I am gay. I move freely in hunting and sport shooting circles and in conservative political circles. Life is good at long last for gay men in Canada and across the Western world.
What is objectionable is that various countercultural elements of society decided to conflate male homosexuality and the gay rights movement with queer theory and gender-identity politics. None of this has anything to do with being gay and gay rights. For anyone who subscribes to queer theory and believes in gender-identity, fine, knock yourselves out. The problem is for gay men and gay rights advocates are that queer theory and gender-identitarianism are fantasy and nonsense. What is worse is that the futile quarrels that erupted over gender-identity politics among feminists and the countercultural crowd that champions the cause are that it undermines the gay rights movement's gains. Honestly, what does Bruce Jenner's sex change or Ellen Page's declaration that she is transgender non-binary have to do with being gay? Conflating this along with cross-dressing, polyamory, gender identity, and gender expression threatens to roll back the gains in that gay men will find the onus on them is yet again to prove to society that they are not perverts.
My husband Mika and I live comfortably. We applied ourselves and took advantage of the opportunities Canadian society afforded us. We are university-educated, have good jobs and a house that is paid for. We accomplished this through our own efforts and good fortune. That is not to say we did not face challenges along the way. We are happy that we can live openly as a gay couple and that no one cares. The people we meet on the job and in day-to-day life judge us as individuals, according to the content of our character. It is stupid and insulting that the countercultural crowd sniffs that our "white male privilege" and our "heteronormativity" guaranteed our success in life. Not only is that untrue, but it is racist and misandric. So no, I have no use for queer theory and the alphabet soup.
What is objectionable is that various countercultural elements of society decided to conflate male homosexuality and the gay rights movement with queer theory and gender-identity politics. None of this has anything to do with being gay and gay rights. For anyone who subscribes to queer theory and believes in gender-identity, fine, knock yourselves out. The problem is for gay men and gay rights advocates are that queer theory and gender-identitarianism are fantasy and nonsense. What is worse is that the futile quarrels that erupted over gender-identity politics among feminists and the countercultural crowd that champions the cause are that it undermines the gay rights movement's gains. Honestly, what does Bruce Jenner's sex change or Ellen Page's declaration that she is transgender non-binary have to do with being gay? Conflating this along with cross-dressing, polyamory, gender identity, and gender expression threatens to roll back the gains in that gay men will find the onus on them is yet again to prove to society that they are not perverts.
My husband Mika and I live comfortably. We applied ourselves and took advantage of the opportunities Canadian society afforded us. We are university-educated, have good jobs and a house that is paid for. We accomplished this through our own efforts and good fortune. That is not to say we did not face challenges along the way. We are happy that we can live openly as a gay couple and that no one cares. The people we meet on the job and in day-to-day life judge us as individuals, according to the content of our character. It is stupid and insulting that the countercultural crowd sniffs that our "white male privilege" and our "heteronormativity" guaranteed our success in life. Not only is that untrue, but it is racist and misandric. So no, I have no use for queer theory and the alphabet soup.
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