29 Gay Men Murdered in Fire – “The Lord had something to do with this.”

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the largest gay massacre in America. I did not know that until I saw this post on Facebook today. In June of 1973 I was enjoying the summer break between my 2nd and 3rd grade years in grammar school. Forty years have gone by and not one of my educators mentioned this massacre. I have worked and lived in a gay city my entire adult life and I have not heard about his until today. How is that possible?

Tomorrow the SCOTUS is going to announce their decisions on marriage. If it goes our way, do we just say “thank you” and blend neatly into hetro-normative society forgetting all the hate? Do we continue to bury this type of history because it makes the middle class assimilationists uncomfortable?

I’m just asking here, because the burial of this story for forty years – the story of my people being hideously murdered in mass – is outrageous.

Again, how is this possible?

Advertisement

Facebook Slams Bareback Page

Facebook Shuts Down Barebacking Page

My contribution to a facebook disucssion in the TRIBE – WeHo Gay Men’s Discussion Group.

Are we talking about public health here or our inability to talk about sex?

To me, this is just another example of American’s fear of sexual content and homophobia from both gay and non-gay people. FB hides behind public health, but I’m guessing it is really the discussion about sex, especially gay sex in particular, that bothers them. I’m guessing that it was easy to find a gay man in the office with enough internalized homophobia to support their decision. “Oh god! That is inappropriate. What about the children? What about public health?” Well, that’s what parenting and security settings are for. btw, I grew up in a state without sex education (it would give children the wrong message) I graduated high school with two pregnant girls, three parents of toddlers, and I soon became HIV positive myself. Maybe a little more talk about sex can be good for kids, but I digress.

Pulling this site down is not about public health. Public health and the strain on our economy by disease would be better served if we shut down all sites contributing to obesity and stress. Google tells me those are the top health concerns of Americans.