This morning, Michael Moynihan, filling in for Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post’s Right Turn blog, alerts us to a story which is a very much a must read:
William McGowan, author of two books on the influence of political correctness in American newsrooms, both published by the conservative imprint Encounter, has a fascinating piece in Slate on a long-forgotten extortion ring targeting gay men in 1960s New York . . .
In this story, we learn how, not even fifty years ago, in America’s most cosmopolitan city, easy it was to blackmail gay men, individuals who feared for their livelihoods if their sexuality came out.
I read this as we here in Los Angeles prepare for the opening of Outfest, a gay and lesbian film festival which many in the entertainment industry — and not just gay men and lesbians — readily embrace. Instead of sexuality being something hide, today, in Los Angles at least, our stories have become something to celebrate.
And that progress is something to celebrate.
I read that piece on Slate yesterday. It was very interesting. In particular, the author pointed out that the NYPD unit that broke this extortion ring up several years before Stonewall.
I’m not sure I completely agree. At some point, or so I’ve heard, the focus of “gay rights” changed from “freedom” to “equality.” I very strongly oppose the concept of “equality,” and I have to think that that that is the main focus of the “gay community” is not something to celebrate. Obviously I’m glad things are no longer like they were with regards to homosexuality, but the “gay community” is not respectable in the least (for many reasons). It is certainly a double-edged sword.
We need to get to a point where sexuality is neither degraded nor celebrated, it just is.