tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post115880831378930456..comments2024-03-22T02:57:20.853-07:00Comments on Center of Gravitas: A Tearoom is Not a ClosetGayProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11289510184782252498noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1159011330027142212006-09-23T04:35:00.000-07:002006-09-23T04:35:00.000-07:00Too many words on this one. The media is obsessed...Too many words on this one. The media is obsessed with the story because it's lurid, and we spend far too much time jerking off to the lurid details.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158922303061180662006-09-22T03:51:00.000-07:002006-09-22T03:51:00.000-07:00Wow, I'm so out of the loop. I think your observat...Wow, I'm so out of the loop. I think your observations are spot on. But to be fair, I think the fact that tearoom sex (or other public sex) is often illegal plays a part in the media attention as well.tornwordohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16581361982939423598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158888592018191022006-09-21T18:29:00.000-07:002006-09-21T18:29:00.000-07:00You pretty much said what I feel about the whole M...You pretty much said what I feel about the whole McGreevy situation, GayProf, except much more coherently. I DO feel sorry that McGreevy felt he had to be in the closet and that he had to lie, to himself and others, about who he really was, but so much of his behavior is just skeevy, and his political record so ridden with scandal and corruption quite apart from his "gay American"-ness, I can't really muster that much sympathy.Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03301077496668834657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158872433844370832006-09-21T14:00:00.000-07:002006-09-21T14:00:00.000-07:00I think this post goes nicely with your post some ...I think this post goes nicely with your post some time ago relating to villians and homosexuality. Nobody cared about CNN anchor man being gay because he looks like superman and has a pretty normal life. McGreevey on the other hand has a sexy sinister story to tell.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12869584065420927072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158870870868014612006-09-21T13:34:00.000-07:002006-09-21T13:34:00.000-07:00Though this seems yet ANOTHER reason not to have a...Though this seems yet ANOTHER reason not to have a TV, thanks for bring this issue to disscussion. What irritates me, ala Oprah, is the way this story runs down the rails of existing stereotypes, and existing stereotype language, bounded by God and morality instead of consent, good v bad choice or any other viewpoint, particularly as the only thing the God, morality and gay stereotypes seem to encourage is that it is far better to be a straight hypocrite than a gay guy who likes sex. <BR/><BR/>Why having sex in an alley (Which surely must include some straight sex as well) is sinfull, dirty, messy, etc while lying for years to someone who agreed to share their life with you, deception to others combined with financial misdoings and simply being a class one ass, is less so. This isn't about being out or not being out, but about America's third century of sex obsession. Beat your kids, lie and steal but if you fear the lord, don't choose the life of the scarlett letter (though in this case we have the gay taboo thrown in as well because we know that gay sex MUST by nature be even more dabauched and (insert overexcited hyperbole here) than just adulterous sex).Elizabeth McClunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03627373214555333537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158866085776560172006-09-21T12:14:00.000-07:002006-09-21T12:14:00.000-07:00I also have a particular distaste for the closeted...I also have a particular distaste for the closeted public figure who suddenly outs himself in the form of a book tour or the cover of People. McGreevey is a slight variation on this theme, but his book tour, as well as his rather sad attempt to moralize his closethood and liberation seem to me as contrived to benefit from the media's (and by extension, the American public) freak-show fascination with back-alley sex as his heterosexual front was contrived to get him elected. In that regard he (and Tab Hunter and Lance Bass and on and on) are culpable for perpetuating the media's wrong-headed standards for handling gay issues. <BR/><BR/>And have you seen any of McGreevey's prose? YUCK.Kylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10403932428529704506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158865130369137032006-09-21T11:58:00.000-07:002006-09-21T11:58:00.000-07:00Gayprof, notice how we're also supposed to welcome...Gayprof, notice how we're also supposed to welcome McGreevy with open arms as a hero for his so-called honesty? I'm sorry, I've done some sleazy things in my life, but cheating on a spouse who is hospitalized at the time makes me seem like a virtual saint.ChristopherMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13032361690288998090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158860963559398582006-09-21T10:49:00.000-07:002006-09-21T10:49:00.000-07:00Jeremy: Back the bus up--penises can go in mouths?...<B>Jeremy:</B> <I>Back the bus up--penises can go in mouths?</I><BR/><BR/>Well, it really depends on the penis -- and maybe the mouth as well.GayProfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11289510184782252498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158859712574805152006-09-21T10:28:00.000-07:002006-09-21T10:28:00.000-07:00Back the bus up--penises can go in mouths?See ya t...Back the bus up--penises can go in mouths?<BR/><BR/>See ya tomorrow!!jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06313206057933336246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158857149293678392006-09-21T09:45:00.000-07:002006-09-21T09:45:00.000-07:00Reminds me of how the media make such a big deal o...Reminds me of how the media make such a big deal over Rock Hudson coming out. I'm like Armisted Maupin don't make a hero out of a death bed confessionMichaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13752534671376363699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158854260883213842006-09-21T08:57:00.000-07:002006-09-21T08:57:00.000-07:00V.O.B.O.Q: To be honest, I tend to be pretty slop...<B>V.O.B.O.Q:</B> To be honest, I tend to be pretty sloppy using the terms “queer” and “gay.” Don’t tell my Queer Theory posse. <BR/><BR/>Queer gained currency in the nineties as an alternative term to the gay/straight binary. Linked directly to queer theory and more radical organizations, like Queer Nation, the term intended to encompass a wider range of sexual practices and attitudes. It sought to show that almost all sexual practice was determined (in part) by social constructions. <BR/><BR/>Using the term Queer was intended to avoid easy definition or categorization. In other words, queer could include both a man who slept only with men as well as a man who mostly slept with women, but occasionally slept with men as well (or even a man who never slept with anybody, ever (queer indeed). Not really seeing him as “gay” or “straight” or “bi,” queer still captured the notion that his sexuality disrupted established assumptions about “normalcy.” It also became a means to refer to historical moments before the nineteenth-century when sexual identities like “homosexual” and “heterosexual” had not yet been created.<BR/><BR/>Queer, because of its remake, has often been associated with a particular political viewpoint that seeks to undermine the sexual status quo. However, it has also become mainstream in many ways. <I>Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,</I> for instance, would not exactly be in line with what most Queer Theorists imagined (queer, in that case, just being another word for “gay men.”) <BR/><BR/>For this reason, Teresa de Lauretis, one of the “founders” of Queer Theory, has argued that the term “queer” no longer holds a revolutionary potential and new terms need to be created.<BR/><BR/>I am not sure that I have done particularly well explaining it – I tried to make a good stab at it, though.GayProfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11289510184782252498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158853665942084822006-09-21T08:47:00.000-07:002006-09-21T08:47:00.000-07:00I'm just waiting for the movie.I'm just waiting for the movie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158852772460998822006-09-21T08:32:00.000-07:002006-09-21T08:32:00.000-07:00Hey, GayProf, pardon my ignorance, but can you exp...Hey, GayProf, pardon my ignorance, but can you explain the difference between <I>queer</I> and <I>gay</I>?<BR/><BR/>Thanks. *smooch*vuboqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17713707780151175505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158850194728219482006-09-21T07:49:00.000-07:002006-09-21T07:49:00.000-07:00Brilliant. I also agree with jpdc's point: McGreev...Brilliant. I also agree with jpdc's point: McGreevey's closetedness had everything to do with political ambition, which makes his behavior toward his wife even more disgusting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158840101139858472006-09-21T05:01:00.000-07:002006-09-21T05:01:00.000-07:00I agree with jpdc: this is a wonderful essay, and ...I agree with jpdc: this is a wonderful essay, and really should be an op-ed somewhere. Because you're fabulous.<BR/><BR/>Also, I've been meaning to point this out for awhile, but your sidebar information about who you're stalking and what you're listening to tells me that we have pretty much identical taste in men and in music.<BR/><BR/>Which may be a bit scary for you. Or for me. But I am just saying.Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03047700345491098393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158810990259094212006-09-20T20:56:00.000-07:002006-09-20T20:56:00.000-07:00It's important for someone, particularly McGreevey...It's important for someone, particularly McGreevey himself, to say "Were I not a 'happily married heterosexual man' I would not have been elected to such a position," and then go somewhere from there. Or even "If I had been allowed to partake of same-sex marriage legally," etc.<BR/><BR/>But those issues are being glossed in apparent favor of where he actually had his extra-marital gay sex, (and subsequent redemption) and for this McGreevey is just as guilty as the media.<BR/><BR/>He had the opportunity to be of benefit to a worthy cause, and instead opted to try and make an icon of himself for entirely selfish reasons.<BR/><BR/>Another prize-worthy essay, Gayprof.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16010478.post-1158809841274791212006-09-20T20:37:00.000-07:002006-09-20T20:37:00.000-07:00I saw some of that Oprah show. I'm usually never ...I saw some of that Oprah show. I'm usually never home that early, but I was the other day.<BR/><BR/>He was skeevy. Gay, straight or bi... simply skeevy.<BR/><BR/>Oprah seemed rather disgusted with him too. Well, disgusted in a we're-going-to-get-great-ratings kind of way.rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06980768449046443151noreply@blogger.com