Newspapers / Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.) / Nov. 23, 2002, edition 1 / Page 30
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30 Q-Culture Q-NOTES • NOVEMBER 23 . 2002 Leslie Robinson And the survey says ... The news item on the PlanetOut web site made my eyes bug out so far they were no longer in the same room with me. According to that story, almost 80 percent of straight British guys have pretended to be gay “in order to achieve some thing of benefit.” This statistical gem was the product of a sur vey by a dating site. Poll results always need to be taken with a grain of salt, but I can’t help thinking what’s called for here is a salt boulder. “When respondents were asked to explain situations where a ’benefit’ may occur from pretending to be gay, popular answers includ ed gaining preferable seats or upgrades when checking in for a flight, gaining entry to a fash ionable club or when negotiating discounts in shops.” Gay men have been holding out on me! All this time there were perks to be had for being gay and I didn’t know? Some gay guy probably blabbed to a bisexual fellow in order to curry favor, or favors, and the news then spread to straight males. But did gay men tell gay women? No, they’ve been keeping this their little secret. It’s outrageous, and must stop. We lesbians want in on the dividends. If these perks for being gay are in a form similar to a frequent flyer program, I want a membership card, a monthly account state- Leslie ROBINSON ment updating me on how many points I’ve earned and a newsletter informing me how I can earn more points. Do 1 earn points for vacationing in Key West? For taking up softball? Are there bonus points for marching on Washington? What do I get with my points? And the answer had bet ter not be a toaster oven. Wait a second, now! Call me cynical, but I believe no such rewards program exists. So there’s no official gifts-for-being-gay arrange ment, and straight English guys are pretend ing to be gay just to get a few pence knocked off a pair of socks. Now that is queer. What 1 don’t understand is how this works. The respondents mentioned getting a seat upgrade. Does this mean when a fellow in line at Heathrow sees the ticket agent is a gay guy, he decides to try to flirt his way into Business Class? Likewise, he cozies up to a gay store clerk to get a deal on a pair of shoes? Is the inference here that a lot of gay — and stupid — men work for airlines and in stores, or is that just my interpretation? You could say it’s a good thing that these straight men have no hang-ups about being taken for homosexual. On the other hand, you could also say they’re just slumming, dipping into the gay world when it suits them and then returning to safety. Which means you could hope that our devious fellow fetches up on the plane between a screaming baby and a garlic salesman, and that he discovers his new dress shoes are actually one hiking boot and one Scooby Doo slipper. see GAYETY on 31 Family Fundamentals Documentary records the heartache of gay children and fundamentalist Christian families by Moira Macdonald Family Fundamentals Documentary by Arthur Dong 75 min. General audiences Kathleen Bremner, a soft-spoken Pentecostal grandmother who devotes much of her time to advocating the idea that those who have “become homosexual” can be “cured," sits in her San Diego living room, sur rounded by dozens of framed photographs of her daughter Susan and now-grown grandson David. The irony of this quickly becomes clear; Both Susan and David are gay and both rarely see Bremner, who lives engulfed by images of the family she no longer knows. Three families and their stories are the heart of Family Fundamentals, a wrenching documen tary about the gay children of fundamentalist Christian families. What happens, writer/direc tor Arthur Dong asks, when parents believe that their beloved children represent a sinful and destructive element in society? In the case of the three families profiled, a ■ sadly permanent schism occurs — people, related by blood and by love, simply stop communicating. Bremner remembers her shock when daughter Susan first told her that she was a lesbian: “I said, ‘But, Susan, you’re a Christian!”’ Bremner, and the people who attend her workshops, are adamant: good Christian folk can’t be gay — "... just heterosexuals with homosexual problems.” Susan and her moth er have no relationship. Brian Bennett is a jovial former staffer to stridently anti-gay-rights Congressman Bob Dornan. Bennett and Dornan had a close father-son relationship for many years — until Bennett came out in 1997. They no longer speak. Rep. Bob Dornan (R-CA) with then-closeted staffer, Brian Bennett on the right But the most haunting story comes from Brett Mathews, a Mormon bishop’s son from rural Utah. Mathews is on a trip back home — his first visit in more than two years, after coming out to his family in 1999. Within a day of arriving, his parents change their minds about participating in the documentary, saying that they would only be part of a film if it denounced homosexuality. Mathews’ parents called him after he returned home and requested he attend a see FAMILY «7/7 3/ One Voice Charlotte’s Lesbian, Cay and Cay-Affirmatioe Chorus Presents. Saturday, December 7,2002 Great Aunt Stella Center 926 Elizabeth Avenue Charlotte, NC 28204 join us for a warm welcome to the holiday season with a cool new sound. The rhythmic pulse of the Gaelic tradition, the lyric strains of oboe and bagpipe, the quiet accompaniment of harp and classical guitar. It’s soothing and exciting - a new tradition you won’t want to miss. Matinee ^ 4:00 PM $12.00 in advance $15.00 at door Evening Show ^ 8:00 PM $17.00 in advance $20.00 at door Tickets & program information available at: www.oneuoicechorus.com Season Ticbets & Group rates available Call (704) 529-2951 email: ovinfo@onevoicechorus.com
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