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Mental Disorders of the Radical Right
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I spent this past Sunday morning
listening to the harsh, irrational
rhetoric of Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Falwell,
and David Hume. In one sense, their rant-
ings were a bit humorous because of their
outlandishness.
But my mirth quickly turned to alarm as
I noticed the 50,000 member audience was
taking all this quite seriously. Jimmy
was condemning the "homos, communists, and
liberal media" for their "growing influ
ence" in Washington. Jerry was furious at
a new group called "Fundamentalists Anony
mous" which he accused of stirring up
disenfranchised nonbelivers. (This was a
very small group, he claimed, but they
were a threat because the "liberal press"
would give them favorable coverage and
exaggerate their numbers and influence.)
Therefore, Jerry said, Christians must
unite in opposition by forming a new
"Christian Anti-Defamation Committee"
which would collect all articles in news
papers, magazines, etc. that presented
Christians in a negative light. Meanwhile
David Hume was busy justifying Libyan
intervention on biblical grounds.
I was forced to ask myself after three
hours of torture what all of this had to
do with society at large and the so-called
"real world." Believe it or not, I
reached the conclusion that these three
men are very Important world actors who
will have a major impact on my life and on
those around me, even if I choose to
ignore them.
You see, we live in a world of compet
ing ideas, and the truth is what one
chooses to believe. What is perceived as
truth can be used to galvanize people's
actions. The millions of people who
listen weekly to television evangelists
participate in our electoral process and
are capable of changing the tone of poli
tical debate. This is why I became
alarmed at all of those believing faces,
and it is why you should be alarmed too.
If you feel secure in your knowledge
that the Falwells of this world will
ultimately fizzle and die, consider for a
moment the historical significance of such
creatures. How many millions of Jews and
homosexuals died before Adolf Hitler was
considered the most infamous war criminal
of all time? How many lives were ruined
because of possible homosexual or commun
ist connections before Senator Joe
McCarthy ws censured and removed from the
U.S. Senate? How many homosexuals will be
beaten or murdered because of radical
right-generated mass hysteria over the
AIDS crisis? Will you be one of them?
Before you slip into absolute compla
cency concerning the radical right, I urge
you to be aware of domestic totalitarian
ism, before it comes knocking at your
front door. Safe journeying!
-Sydney Wyatt
My Two Loves
ABC’s My Two Loves, a movie about a
woman struggling with her sexual orienta
tion, could have been a big step forward
for lesbians in particular and for gays in
general. Instead, the movie refused to
make any truly positive statements and
continued to substantiate myths and
stereotypes.
1 realize that the movie had a few
bright spots, but I am not willing to
compromise my beliefs for a few prime time
"v/arm fuzzies." True, at last a lesbian
did appear in a television movie, but the
woman was less than admirable and was so
far back in the closet that I felt assured
she had never heard of gay rights.
No one in this movie could even say the
word "lesbian," except for an overtly
homophobic mother and onJy then when she
was yelling, "You can’t be one of those.":
The struggling bisexual woman finally goes
to a therapist, and naively I thought
maybe the therapist could say a few good
words about lesbians and gays; however,
all the therapist could utter was that
many people have same—sex experiences but
no need for concern yet!
This movie also brings up the contro-
which I fondly call the diesel dyke
dilemma." Do we as lesbians and gay men
want to sacrifice the issue of homophobia
for a few beautiful role models? I hope
not. Let’s learn from other oppressed
groups that positive role models do not
end oppression. As one person of color
put it on the eve of the Superbowl,
"Tonight millions of Americans will turn
on their televisions to watch Refrigerator
Perry pluy football, but in a lot of those
neighborhoods he would not be able to buy
a house."
Sure, I understand the politics sur
rounding spokespeople, but who wants
freedom for only white, middle-class,
physically attractive lesbians and gays?
Let’s make our movement free of racism,
classism, sexism, and all the others.
Let’s demand from the press and entertain
ment fields responsible, fair, and
accurate portrayals of our people and
lifestyles.
-Jill Duvall