j u s t o u t ▼ a u g u s t 19, 1994 V 3
Vancouver m
letters
Reactionary framing
To the Editor:
I write in reference to the editorial “The Issue is
NAMBLA” by Ariel Waterwoman [Just Out, July
1, 1994].
Although Waterwoman’s intentions are surely
good, her analysis is lacking in perspective, avoid
ing any serious consideration of history or social
context. In the process, she describes NAMBLA
the way Strom Thurm ond m ight. Indeed,
Waterwoman’s editorial illustrates well the point
made by the group Spirit of Stonewall: The issue
for them is not NAMBLA, rather, it is the increas
ing tendency of lesbians and gays to let cultural
reactionaries dictate our program. The ignorance
of history and lack of cultural analysis which leads
to scapegoating has been identified by Spirit of
Stonewall as a serious threat to the community.
Since NAMBLA is an issue for me, I will get
more specific. NAMBLA was founded in response
to an explicitly anti-gay campaign by an aging
judge desperate for votes. The group grew out of a
coalition which included every lesbian and gay
group in Boston, and its purpose was to defend
Boston’s gay community against the judge’s
charges of “child molestation,” following several
prosecutions of gay men for consenting sex with
adolescents. NAMBLA’s approach was to de
nounce age-of-consent laws, because at that time it
was almost unheard of for the laws to be enforced
against any other kind of relationship. They were
used to imprison gay men, to harass gay youth, but
almost never to stop abuse.
It was all too obvious that the laws were (and
are) ineffective and inappropriate for the preven
tion of rape, abuse or exploitation, since they often
serve to tie the hands of young people seeking to
escape abuse. Clearly, if we are serious about
stopping abuse, we need a different approach.
These problems are much more effectively ad
dressed by dealing with the legal, social and eco
nomic status of young people, and specifically by
making it possible for a young person to speak
independently of adults. NAMBLA’s vilification
for stating these simple truths speaks volumes
about American society.
Waterwoman’s uncritical acceptance of a reac
tionary framing of this issue speaks of our need as
a community to educate ourselves, particularly in
the areas of gay history and anthropology, to en
sure that we are not used as mouthpieces for the
system which has oppressed all of us for so long.
Bill Duckett
San Francisco
Ignorant about NAMBLA
To the Editor:
I read, with horror, your most recent diatribe
against the National Man/Boy Love Association in
the July 1 issue of Just Out. I find it difficult to
comprehend that a woman of your obvious intelli
gence is unable to see the bigotry you project at
those you don’t understand. For a woman who has
experienced oppression based on the fears of soci
ety about sex and sexuality, I can’t believe you
don’t see how you are passing on that same op
pression to those on the next rung of that mythical
ladder of acceptance.
I’m clear on the fact that you don’t understand
what NAMBLA is about and your obvious fear is
based on what you think NAMBLA is about. More
succinctly, your fear is based on your own igno
rance.
Your diatribe clearly assumes that all sex be
tween an adult and a child is predatory in nature.
As if a child would never willingly consent to have
sex with an adult. This is an assumption I will not
make until all the facts are in. I remember how
many crushes I had on older boys and some of my
teachers. If one of them had asked me to have sex
with them, I wouldn’t have been able to get my
clothes off fast enough. Like it or not, children,
from a much earlier age than we care to accept, are
aware of sex and actually experiment with it.
Society has traditionally dehumanized our chil
dren when it comes to sex by denying their capa
bility to make such decisions, even though they
are obviously called upon to do so by the very
biology that takes place in the human body at that
age.
I am not a member of NAMBLA, my sexual
tastes have always run to people roughly my own
age or a little older.
Like you, NAMBLA makes me a little ner
vous. However, I’m clear on why they make me
nervous. I’ve never read their material and I don’t
really know what they’re about. Essentially what
I’m saying is, I know that I’m ignorant about
NAMBLA, and that’s why I’m not willing to
condemn them so quickly. That’s how straight
people have always dealt with you and me. They
just don’t get it, so they make up fantasies and use
them to condemn us. I do know this, though,
NAMBLA is right about two things:
First, and foremost, there is not a rational,
intelligent discourse going on about children and
sex anywhere in society, even gay society (as
evidenced by your editorial).
And secondly, the issue is about censorship
and inclusiveness. When we try to "clean up” our
image in the minds of straight people, like those at
the United Nations, we are denying our own
diversity, and mimicking our own oppressors by
oppressing those on the next rung down on that
mythical ladder of acceptance. What are we going
to do when the United Nations demands that we
strip ourselves of any connection with Dykes on
Bikes or The National Leather Association, or, for
that matter, the very drag queens who so coura
geously stood up to their oppressors at The Stone
wall and sparked the movement that brought us to
the very door of the United Nations to begin with?
Just how much are you willing to give up, to be
accepted by people who don’t want you anyway?
Gregory Franklyn
Portland
(Not BC)
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TRANSITIONS
Artist and peet last
A memorial service for Gary Leon Whitehead
was held Aug. 6, 1994, in Chico, Calif. Gary died
at his home in Portland on July 24 of Hodgkin’s
Disease complicated by HIV. He was 32.
Gary was bom Oct. 14, 1961, in Los Angeles,
and was raised in Chico. He moved to Portland in
1989. He worked as a waiter and bartender most of
his life.
Gary loved people and made friends easily. He
had a great sense of humor and could make people
laugh instantly. He was an artist and his poetry was
published in Our World’s Most Treasured Poems.
Gary had many talents and loved to explore his
creativity.
Survivors include his partner of five years,
Brian Smith; mother and stepfather Millie and Art
Rucker of Orland, Ca
lif.; father and step
mother Mack and Helen
Whitehead of Stanfield,
A riz.; sister Debbie
Whitehead of Chico, Ca-
lif.; brother Bennie
W hitehead of Mesa,
Ariz.; extended family
m em bers Linda and
Wilbur Smith, Alan Gar
ner, James Nedham, Jeff
Duncan, and many friends.
He is dearly loved and will be greatly missed by
those whose hearts were touched by him.
We love you, Gary!
Remembrances in Gary’s name to Friends of
People with AIDS, Portland, Ore.
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