Pointing Fingers

Of Hoods and Hoodies

As the Trayvon Martin story shows no signs of disipating any time soon, vigilantes spring into action and the racists start finding defenses, parallels and reasons as to why we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions, and asking why Obama didn't comment on this case or that, there are a few important reasons why Trayvon Martin's story is different from others.

1. Setting aside race, the notion that a 220 pound bully, in flagrant disregard of the instruction to stop following him, pursued Trayvon Martin because he "looked suspicious" carrying his Skittles and iced tea, then turned around and claimed to have felt threatened enough to kill him in "self defense" is absurd on its face. Regardless of whether Trayvon Martin was black, white or Hispanic and whether George Zimmerman was black, white or Hispanic.

2. The "stand your ground" law was thrust into the spotlight because of the absurdity that it could be abused to the extent that Zimmerman, despite his previous history and the fact that he was chasing Martin, was not arrested, finger-printed or sufficiently interrogated before being set free -- gun and all -- and to this day, has been free from any legal consequences whatsoever surrounding the killing.

3. The fact that a young black man in a hoodie is in and of itself enough to warrant suspicion on behalf of someone like George Zimmerman is symbolic of a much broader perspective, where black kids and youngsters -- particularly, but not exclusively male -- are burdened by an inherent prejudice that renders their mere existence a threat.

4. The combination and conflation of the above three points precipitated a conversation and dialog that was waiting to be had. The fact that a young, unarmed kid can be gunned down without so much as a slap on the wrist, resulted in a swell of outrage that manifested itself in the form of protests, vigils and things like the MillionHoodieMarch across the country turned this story into an international one.

No one is denying that there are not similar, ugly, irrational incidents every day. If anything, Trayvon Martin's story became as huge as it did because it isn't just a one-off, freak accident. Regardless of whether Zimmerman once "actually caught one thief and aided in the apprehension of other criminals," his racist comments on the 911 tapes, from the arousal of suspicion to the epithets themselves, communicate clearly enough what his thinking was and why he chose to pursue Martin despite being told not to by the police dispatcher.

And whether Trayvon Martin was taller -- a towering 6'2" football player, as some allege -- than the pictures being flashed across TV screens suggest (he was still smaller and weighed considerably less than Zimmerman) or whether he was a model student or not (I was suspended from school, but it was never used as a justification to shoot me), the facts remain.

Trayvon Martin, armed with nothing but candy and an iced tea, was enjoying a walk in the rain, (wearing a hoodie as one in the rain might, typically) chatting to his girlfriend on his cell phone, was pursued, chased and shot dead for being black in the apparently wrong place, at the apparently wrong time, in the apparently wrong weather, in the apparently wrong clothes.

If current gun laws, current perceptions and issues relating to racial profiling, and the tragedy resulting from this "perfect storm" are thrust into the national dialog, perhaps his death may not be in vain.

Apologies, Excuses and Sluts

As advertisers flee, Rush Limbaugh, in the worst attempt at spin control ever uttered by anyone facing a widespread public backlash, offered a half-hearted explanation for his unconscionable attack on a Georgetown University law student, Sandra Fluke.

Limbaugh, who triple-downed calling Sandra Fluke a slut and a prostitute over the course of three days, revealed, once again, a deep-rooted, ugly, cringe-worthy misogynist mind set and embarrassing ignorance of how birth control actually works, and basic English terminology.

While “slut” is generally used as a derogatory term for women considered sexually promiscuous (whereas sexual promiscuity in men is considered a back-slapping demonstration of masculine prowess), a prostitute is a sex worker—a person who is paid to provide sexual intercourse or other sex acts, usually as a means of livelihood when other options are limited. Slut and prostitute are no more interchangeable than ignorant and obese.

“She's having so much sex, she's going broke buying contraceptives and wants us to buy them. I said, 'Well, what would you call someone who wants us to pay for her to have sex? What would you call that woman? You'd call 'em a slut, a prostitute or whatever," Limbaugh exploded in his sweaty tirade.

He later feigned remorse, stating “OK, she’s not a slut, she’s round-heeled.” The hypocrisy is standard fare for Limbaugh, as is the deliberate attack on women. And despite Limbaugh’s misinformation, in his attempt to stir outrage, he implies that he, and other taxpayers, are paying for contraception. Which is not the case. We don’t have universal healthcare in the United States. And insurance companies are happy to provide contraception as opposed to the multitude of serious health issues that birth control mitigates, unwanted pregnancy being just one.

On the other hand, illegally obtaining prescription drugs like oxycodone and hydrocodone which Limbaugh did to feed his addictions, violating Florida's doctor shopping laws, which Limbaugh did to feed his addictions, and forcing the expenditure of resources by drug enforcement agents, which Limbaugh did when caught smuggling Viagra from the Dominican Republic using a prescription that wasn’t in his name, does in fact, impact insurance companies, the costs of which are passed on to Limbaugh’s deluded listeners (and everyone else).

Then there’s the weight. A 270-pound body (yo-yoing up and down based on both gluttony and narcotics) is as unhealthy as it is expensive for everyone else. “When I want a steak or a huge slab of prime rib, which is frequently, I go to Ben Benson's Steak House on West 52nd,” Limbaugh once told Cigar Aficionado. "I think cigars are just a tremendous addition to the enjoyment of life," he stated in the same interview. If there’s one clear image that emerges, it’s that Rush Limbaugh will eat, smoke and fuck whatever his hedonistic mind tells him, consequences, costs or pseudo-morality be damned.

Limbaugh’s pathetic excuse to try and stem the hemorrhaging resulting from his Sandra Fluke comments is indicative of his cowardice and insincerity.

Pointing to a Romneyesque grueling three-hours-a-day work schedule, Limbaugh continues to believe he and the taxpayer are footing the bill for contraception. Oblivious to the costs of his gluttonous, hedonistic lifestyle choices. Or the costs to the state in providing pre and post natal resources for unwanted or unplanned pregnancies. Or the well being of children born to inadequate, unprepared mothers – or “sluts” as he would call them.

Or does Limbaugh reserve that term for women who use contraception only?

“My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.”

His words, not their meaning. In his excuse, Limbaugh claims he didn’t expect his ugly tirade to rise to a Presidential level after the President called Sandra Fluke on Friday to commend her for her courage in testifying before congressional forum convened by Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (after a Republican-led House committee on women’s health issues, refused to hear her testimony, deferring to an all-male panel instead).

Yet Limbaugh ignores the fact that his show itself plays a political role – one that reaches into the heart of the Presidential primary.

Perhaps Mitt Romney’s shameful, tepid "not language I would have used" response demonstrates that the candidate still shares the sentiment. Perhaps he would have used a nicer word for “slut”.

Maybe Romney doesn’t want to offend Limbaugh, petrified, as all Republicans are, to dare cross him. Or could it be that their fortunes are inextricably linked. After all, Limbaugh’s fortune comes from his radio show on Clear Channel. And Clear Channel is owned by Bain Capital.

This kind of media/politician fraternization inter-fucking is about to destroy Rupert Murdoch once and for all, as the cozy relationship between David Cameron and Rebecca Brooks was exposed in sensational headlines in Britain last week, along with the unceremonious demotion of James Murdoch from News International.

The silent lack of condemnation from Republican leaders is as deafening as it is predictable. This cowardice is nothing new. And nor is their unbridled disrespect and condescension toward women.

Limbaugh’s derisive, condescending excuse as apology is not aimed at Sandra Fluke.

It’s to stop the backlash and the scrutiny a continued spotlight threatens to expose and the financial damage that could result.

And when someone compromises their moral certitude for the sole purpose of financial gain, we see all to clearly what a real whore look like.

Surge in Violent Sexual Assaults in the Military Makes Fox's Liz Trotta Giggle

Last week after the Pentagon announced new rules easing the ban on women serving in combat, Rick Santorum, having never served in the military, was forced to clarify his sexist position on women in combat – “where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interests of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved.”

When criticized and informed that the Pentagon’s position simply formalizes what has already been happening for some time, Santorum, having never served in the military, attempted to backpedal. As successfully as his condescension toward “blacks” was just a mistake for what he meant, nonsensically, as “blahs.”

“Men in our culture are focused on if a woman is in trouble, obviously, to react to try to help to protect and care for that person. That is something that is built in culturally,” was Santorum’s response, having never served in the military.

Then Fox News trotted out yet another right wing nutcase – Liz Trotta, (Ann Coulter’s great-grandmother?): “The sexual abuse report says that there’s been, since 2006, a 64% increase in violent sexual assaults,” laughed Liz Trotta. “Now, what did they expect? These people are in close contact…”

Here’s what we all expect. That regardless of where, be it in a war zone or in the privacy of one’s home, men are able to respect women enough to refrain from violently assaulting them sexually. 

Maybe Liz Trotta (having never served in the military) thinks it’s okay to smack people around and thrust herself uncontrollably like a dog on heat whenever she’s sexually attracted to whoever the poor, wretched creature might be, but most of us can control our urges. And our obvious projecting.

“The budget for the Defense Department’s Sexual Assualt Preventions and Response Office leapt from $5 million in fiscal 2005 to more than $23 million in fiscal 201. Total Defense spending on sexual assault prevention and related now exceeds $113 million annually” Liz Trotta complained bitterly.

When challenged by Fox News’ Eric Shaw, that perhaps the people fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq deserve being protected Liz Trotta squawked, “That’s funny, I thought the mission of the army and the navy and four services was to defend and protect us, not the people who are fighting the war.”

Yep, violent rape. A real knee-slapper.

Unfortunately, this self-loathing, misogyny-spewing idiot -- for whom the billions being spent on the war are fine, but not the drop-in-the-bucket being spent to protect women being violently sexually abused -- is among the us being protected.

Many women in the military tonight are watching our backs, and unfortunately having to watch their own, so that Liz Trotta can spew her vomit.

As far as Liz Trotta is concerned, rape away guys. Rick Santorum will take care of the results. Until they’re born, of course. Then the women and children are on their own.

Liz Trotta, for whom the Holocaust was probably a giggle too, is nothing short of an ugly, disgusting embarrassment.

Even for Fox.

Disgrace for the Cure

We want to apologize for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives. -- Susan B. Komen Foundation

Political kowtowing and lack of moral courage do nothing to advance women's health.

Nancy G. Brinker, the founder and chief executive of the Susan B. Komen Foundation, acknowledged the decision had been “deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends.”

After a storm of criticism followed the organization's obviously political move to defund Planned Parenthood, they backtracked.

But the damage was done, exposing the leadership for who they really are. With Nacy Brinker at the helm and Karen Handel anywhere close, the stink remains.

And the result of this irreperably damaging move on their brand?

 

Loss of trust on the left and disppointment on the right. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid. 

The Sexual Confusion of TN Senator Stacey Campfield

Spreading misinformation, even if you are severely ignorant, and even if you're from Tennessee, isn't okay -- especially if you're a public official.

Stacey Campfield, the same State senator from Tennessee sponsored a bill to force women to look at fetal ultrasound images before having an abortion. His existence may be the only legitimate thing support his claim. Had his mother seen so much of a cell of his, she surely would have aborted immediately.

"In the 60's my grandfather sat at the lunch counters with the blacks in Knoxville to help break up the segregation of the races," he claims. Like Arizona governor Jan Brewer's father died fighting the Nazis. Her father, Wilford Drinkwine, died from lung disease in California, ten years after World War II had ended.

But what is Stacey's excuse for such a special brand of asshole meets stupid?

Already there is a "Recall Stacey Campfield" page on Facebook (although Tennessee law forbids recalls, just as they do using the word "gay". Campfield, who audaciously compares himself to Jesus Christ and the civil rights activists of the 60s, authored a bill outlawing mentioning sexuality in schools, except for heterosexuality and marriage. The "Don't Say Gay" bill passed by a 6-3 vote.

Now Martha Boggs, owner of Bistro at the Bijou in Knoxville, is being hailed as a hero after last Sunday she refused to serve the senator and his friends. She claimed it was the elevation of his remarks from stupid to dangerous that motivated her.

We don't, or shouldn't, discriminate against those with brain disease or other debilitating, disabling mental disorders that preclude them from performing certain tasks, but we don't allow them to perform brain surgery or pilot planes either.

Nor should ignorant bigots be given a platform to spread dangerous, life-threatening misinformation.

The humiliation of growing up with a non-gender specific name isn't an excuse either. Being a manly man is not simply in the name. And irony aside, channeling one's inner elementary schoolgirl to name one's blog "Camp4U" is not going to mask any deep-rooted maculinity issues driving one's antigay legislative agenda, let alone be taken seriously as the intelligent musing of a well-adjusted man.

His barely coherent disclaimer on his blog excuses his ignorance as follows: "The information should be construed as open opinion and information contained in this document represents opinion or facts to the best of the writers knowledge and should not be viewed as permanent certified facts but as the way the information is interpreted by the opinion of the author."

And as deluded as he is about sexuality, that anyone familiar with the English language would knowingly appropriate his drivel, he warns: "Any and all information, statements, comments and opinions are the sole property of the author. Absolutely no duplication outside of the exclusive on line media community is allowed without expressed written permission of the author." Seriously. He need not worry.

To justify his antigay "Don't Say Gay" bill, he remarked: “I just think there are situations where some kids maybe sexually unsecure [sic] in themselves or sexually confused and don’t necessarily know clearly what direction they are. If someone, a person of influence, says maybe you’re gay, maybe you should explore those things — maybe the child, who is young and impressionable, says maybe I am gay,” 

Who knows what inner demons threaten Campfield's precarious masculinity. Or when it was the unmarried, 42-year-old, bible-thumping conservative chose to be straight. Or why he would wear a Mexican wrestling mask to Neyland Stadium only to be kicked out by police for scaring the shit out of young girls and subsequently their terrified mother.

He has issues.

And a platform.

 

Hello Apartheid My Old Friend...

Hello Apartheid My Old Friend.You've come to talk with me again.

Today South Africa passed the 'Protection of Information Act' that mocks press freedom despite vociferous opposition by protesters donning black in the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria. This dark day, commonly referred to as 'Black Tuesday,' is a sad, blatant kick ion the face to all those who fought to end Apartheid, spilling blood in the pursuit of freedom.

The Sound of Silence is the secrecy this act protects and the freedom it desecrates.

The ANC today demonstrated once and for all that it is no longer fit to associate itself with Nelson Mandela or anything that he fought for and stands for.

Please Lie to Me - Art Mur Gallery's 15th Anniversary includes Torture

Four pieces from my Torture series are included in “Please Lie to Me,“ Montreal art gallery, Art Mûr’s, exhibition opening next week to celebrate the gallery’s 15th anniversary.

“Please Lie to Me,” (PDF invitation) features an exciting mix of globally diverse artists, including the Gao brothers, a duo of extraordinarily talented, highly controversial Chinese artists, with whom I had the pleasure of spending an evening trading censorship stories in Beijing in 2007 while I was exhibiting Torture with New York's Michael Petronko Gallery.

Torture is a series of staged and digitally manipulated photographic images that recreate the infamous torture scenes from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, transforming the diffuse, muted and low-resolution images into large-scale, vivid, powerful and frightening reproductions. I focused on the choreography and sexualization of torture, which included images of prisoners stripped naked, wearing hoods or sandbags as they're forced to stand in excruciatingly uncomfortable positions, simulate sexually degrading acts, are plastered with feces and subject to egregious humiliation.

In spite of the horror, the images, stylized with fashion-photography lighting, radiate a profound beauty and eroticism that is all at once seductive, disturbing and unsettling.

The series, unfortunately, is as relevant today as it was during the Bush administration that inspired, enabled, condoned and justified the torture perpetrated in America’s name. President Barack Obama has refused to deal with this issue seriously and hold those responsible accountable. That the orders came from the top are no longer theories, but chapters from the books of Dick Cheney and other players who not only admit to their illegal. globally condemned, human-rights-violating, trickle-down torture policies, but vow they would do it again. This blight on America’s moral standing remains, and will continue to. Dirty, ugly and embarrassing.

Euphemisms like “enhanced interrogation techniques” for torture and “looking forward” as an excuse for a failure to prosecute war crimes doom us to repeat the same mistakes down the road. And render any attempts to promote democracy around the world nothing more than a waste of time, effort and money. Until Dick Cheney and his cohorts are at down in handcuffs before a court, whether in Nuremberg, Johannesburg or Baghdad, America’s ten year adventure in Iraq will prove the costliest and deadliest public relations disaster in American history.

The coverage of the Torture series was quite expansive, and included interviews and explanations as to what inspired the show and what was learned as a result. I have included a few for those who haven’t seen it or been exposed to it.

Art Mûr is located at 5826 rue St-Hubert , Montréal, Québec, and the show runs from November 5 – December 12, 2011.

Additional artists include Lois Andison, Simon Bilodeau, Dominique Blain, Susan Bozic, Renato Garza Cervera, Cooke-Sassville, Clinton Fein, Sarah Garzoni, Karine Giboulo, Dina Goldstein, Nicolas Grenier, Jonathan Hobin, Guillaume Lachapelle, Cal Lane, Nadia Myre, Jennifer Small, The Gao Brothers, Diana Thorneycroft, Barbara Todd, and Colleen Wolstenholme.

 

Fein's counterfeits are not intended to reprise tired debates about originality and authorship. Unlike Sherrie Levine, who rephotographed Walker Evans's Depression-era images, or Thomas Ruff, whose enlargements of Internet images preserve and accentuate the flaws of screen grabs, Fein seized upon despicable amateur images, which unexpectedly had acquired public notoriety and probative value, and re-presented them in enhanced, painterly terms. His invocation of old-master painting, far from summoning up Christian martyrdom as do the Abu Ghraib canvases of Fernando Botero, delivers us to the dark threshold of inhumanity conjured by Goya.

Marcia E. Vetrocq, Rules of Engagement, Art in America

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The recent show, titled "Torture," consisted of staged and manipulated photographic images. Fein felt that the low resolution of the pictures taken by the GIs participating in the Abu Ghraib abuses - the images that later appeared in the press - had the effect of muting and veiling the actual horror of the scenes depicted. Only sharp, high-resolution images, he concluded, could convey the full impact of the humiliating atrocities and show what the corrupt leaders of a supposedly civilized nation routinely endorsed.

Peter Selz, Professor Emeritus of Art History at UC Berkeley, founding director of the Berkeley Art Museum and former curator of New York's Museum of Modern Art, Clinton Fein at Toomey Tourell, Art in America

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Like Loan's execution and America's lynchings, the acts recorded in the original Abu Ghraib images look like performances for the camera's eye, as though the greatest shame of all was to have the moment documented for an audience, for posterity. And by including himself within the exhibition, Fein engages head-on this question of the photographer's presence at scenes of violence. Perhaps the artist is as sinister a figure as the original prison guard. Perhaps Fein enjoyed making violence as beautiful as this, and now asks us to enjoy it-asks us to take as much pleasure in these scenes as the original prison guards, with their grins and gestures. Perhaps Fein's camera, which demanded of his models full nudity and physical exhaustion, is as aggressive as the prison guard's club.

Zoe Trodd, Member of Tutorial Board in History and Literature. Harvard University, Clinton Fein's Tools and the Master's House of Torture, Gallery Introduction, January 13, 2007

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Several contemporary artists have tried to evoke the grotesqueries of war...But no one else has reached the peculiar extremes to which Fein goes. Using hired models, he re-enacted and photographed scenes of cruelty that were recorded in the notorious unofficial photographs of "detainee abuse" at Abu Ghraib.

Fein presents these images as giant panel-mounted chromogenic prints. To viewers who remember the Abu Ghraib images, Fein's pieces will look both grimly familiar and oddly aestheticized. Two are his inventions.

Encountering them in an art gallery provokes tangled responses: outrage that someone would advance his own ambitions through the degradations the Abu Ghraib photos record; perverse temptation by the opportunity to study the mise-en-scene of the original pictures, safe in the knowledge of seeing simulations; despair that history has again diverted the resources of art away from pleasure and contemplation to bleak and urgent critical functions; and, finally, the recognition that, after all the barriers between art and life come down, nothing insulates our enjoyment of the arts against toxic pollution from our knowledge of real events.

Kenneth Baker, The Horror of Torture, Reinterpreted through Art, The San Francisco Chronicle

 

For more reviews, see http://www.clintonfein.com/torture/media.asp

Occupiers and Tea Partiers, Quite Simply

The constant comparison of Occupy Wall Street protesters and the Tea Party crowd (before they were coopted by Dick Armey, Sarah Palin, Batty Bachman and the Republican establishment) has been marvelously simplified by one James Sinclair. 

His diagram makes one thing very clear. The biggest obstacles in the pursuit of consensus are labels.  

San Francisco Prepares to Remember Frank Kameny

The activist group, Gays Without Borders, are organizing "Gay Is Good: San Francisco Celebrates the Life and Legacy of Frank Kameny," to allow friends and admirers of gay pioneer Frank Kameny an opportunity to commemorate his life and teach a younger generation who he was and the contributions he made.

The celebration -- organized by Michael Petrelis, Bill Wilson and yours truly -- is set to take place at the base of the controversial flagpole in Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro, where a wreath will be laid honoring the decades of Kameny laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans' Day to honor and remember fallen lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of the U.S. military.

The flagpole itself is mired in a petty, bitter, nine-month old controversy over control of the pole, the rainbow flag that flies atop it, and the process by which it is occasionally lowered to recognize the lives of those who have made a valuable contribution to the community or events such as 9/11.

While it is understandable that lowering the flag too frequently will weaken its poignancy and reduce its meaning, many community members and activists (myself included) find the secretive and inconsistent process through which requests are made and randomly granted by Merchants of Upper Market and Castro (MUMC) unacceptable for a community space on city property. MUMC has refused to put forward a methodology that invites community involvement, or a transparent articulation of their vetting process which appears to be at the whim of one or two people on their board.

In an apparently unprecedented verbal contract with the San Francisco Department of Public Work giving MUMC custodianship of the flag and flagpole, their stubborn and childish refusal to cooperate with concerned members of the community despite repeated requests, or to meaningfully address their grievances, have resulted in steps currently underway to challenge MUMC’s custodianship and return the plaza to the citizens of San Francisco.

Whether MUMc lowers the flag to commemorate Kameny’s life or not, however, is irrelevant at this point, as laying a wreath at its base is better suited to remember him and his anual pilgramage to Arlington.

The date of the celebration and wreath-laying at Harvey Milk Plaza is designed to fall on the same date as a similar celebration taking place in Washington, DC, Kameny’s hometown, and will be announced once it is determined by the executors of his estate and his longtime friends.

For more on Kameny and his extraordinary journey, read: The Irrepressible Frank Kameny (In the words of Randy Shilts).

The Irrepressible Frank Kameny (in the words of Randy Shilts)

On October 12, 2011, 86 year-old Frank Kameny died. It cannot be overstated what an incredibly brave man he was, and the extent to which the modern gay rights movement in the United States rests firmly on his shoulders.

 In 1993, Steve Campbell and I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Kameny on video in his home in Washington DC (which I will optimize for the web and post in days to come), for the CD ROM version of "Conduct Unbecoming: Gays & Lesbians in the U.S. Military . Randy Shilts’ epic masterpiece of investigative journalism remains the ultimate history of gays in the military up until Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

On July 14, 2011, California Governor, Jerry Brown signed into law the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act, authored by Senator Mark Leno, to amend the Education Code to include social sciences instruction on the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Despite the hysterical outcry from homophobes and those who would deny historical accuracy (much like they do science), Frank Kameny's contributions to civil society, not just gay rights, should be taught and acknowledged with the same respect and accuracy as Malcolm X or Susan B. Anthony.

Frank Kamney was an activist's activist. The Thomas Jefferson of Gay Liberation. In the excerpts below, Shilts captures just a glimpse of who Frank Kameny was, what he stood for, and what he achieved. 

Clinton Fein

UNTIL 1959, DR. FRANKLIN KAMENY had been a happy, eccentric scientist performing his tasks in observational astronomy for the Army Map Service. He had a doctorate in astronomy from Harvard, and everyone agreed that he was very good at what he did, but this made no difference when his boss called him in and told him he was fired because he was a homosexual, since under the rules of the Civil Service Commission no homosexual could work for the United States government. Kameny had never demonstrated much of a political bent in the past, but as a man of science he was devoted to reason and could not fathom how his behavior in the privacy of his bedroom affected his job as a government astronomer. An intellectual, he was also not about to suffer fools gladly. Rather than quietly accept the termination and seek employment elsewhere, he decided to fight.

For the next two years, Kameny labored over his petition for certiorari, or a request of review by the Supreme Court. He developed legal arguments against the government’s action and formulated his own ideas about what would later be called gay liberation. In March 1961, when the high court turned down his petition, he began to seek out organizations championing homosexual rights. He found only five or six of them in the country. He soon set up his own group, the Washington chapter of the Mattachine Society. From that moment on, he had three goals: to end the Civil Service’s ban on gays working for the government, to end discrimination against homosexuals seeking security clearances, and to end the exclusion of gays from the military.

BY THE TIME TECHNICAL Sergeant Leonard Matlovich appeared at Frank Kameny’s two-story brick house a half block from the Potomac River, he had already confided that he was indeed the “friend” for whom he had placed the phone call several months earlier. Kameny’s enthusiasm built as Matlovich recounted his military resume. The man held the Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, two Air Force commendation medals, and a recent Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, had done three tours in Vietnam, and had altogether eleven years of unblemished service. Central casting could not have provided a better test case to take to the Supreme Court. Kameny, however, was no lawyer. Fortunately, a former Air Force lawyer had already volunteered for the job.

Matlovich’s decision to fight the military’s exclusion of gays came as he settled into a new routine within the huge array of military bases around the Norfolk area, the region locals called Hampton Roads. At night military men with their telltale short haircuts and without the longish sideburns fashionable in the posthippie era packed the local gay bars. For the first time, Matlovich could socialize with other gay military people, but when he spoke of challenging the regulations he found that such talk genuinely frightened many of his new friends.

Matlovich would not be deterred, however, even though he dreaded both the moment when he would tell the Air Force he was gay and the inevitable aftermath of telling his parents. Still, he felt he had no other choice. For years, he had spoken about the need for the United States to attain justice and equality for all its citizens. Now, he had actually begun to believe it.

With Washington activist Frank Kameny, [Bruce] Voeller aggressively lobbied both the American Psychiatric Association and the federal Civil Service Commission to make what would be historic changes in their antigay policies. He also began cultivating relationships with national news organizations, believing media exposure, not radical confrontations, was the better means of educating the country about gay injustices.

 

 

MEMORIAL DAY, 1980
TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

GAY ORGANIZER FRANK KAMENY had made it clear that if the Army did not grant permission to lay his wreath on Memorial Day, he would do it, anyway--even if he got shot in the process. But it was White House intervention and Allison Thomas’s persistence that finally moved the Army to accede just days before the scheduled ceremonies.

On the morning of the wreath laying, three high-ranking civilian officials from the Department of the Army stood at the ready to make sure the gay activists did not instigate a subversive act, and a squad of armed military police waited out of sight in the tunnel complex beneath the tomb. At the appointed time, Kameny and a handful of other members of the Gay Activists Alliance stepped solemnly down the wide marble staircase to the broad plaza where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier sits, its pilastered facade facing Washington. From the tunnels below the staircase, an honor guard in Army dress blues emerged with the wreath into the plaza.

This was not a great turning point in the history of the United States, Kameny knew, but it was a small victory. He had known gay men who had died for their country in World War II and in the Korean and Vietnam wars, and he would be damned if they would be denied this honor any longer.

Being a stickler for detail, however, Kameny also noticed the difference between the Gay Activists Alliance commemoration and the others.

While every other group was announced before it placed its wreaths, no announcement was made for the gay activists. And Kameny noticed someone had placed a spray of flower petals to cover the word Gay, so their identifying ribbon read Activists Alliance. And although the wreaths remained on the tomb until it was time for the next ceremony, the gay wreath was gone by the time Kameny and his friends reached the top of the stairs on their way out.

Not long afterward, Kameny received a phone call from a stranger who asked whether he and his lover might pay Frank a visit. As the grand old man of Washington’s gay community, Frank was accustomed to such cryptic requests, and when the couple arrived Kameny recognized one of them as part of the Old Guard that had handled the ceremonies that day. He was here to thank Kameny for the wreath. There were a lot of people in uniform that day, he said, who appreciated what Frank had done.

Copyright 1995-2011 Innoventions, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright 1993 Randy Shilts. Copyright 1994 Estate of Randy Shilts. All rights reserved. Published by arrangement with St. Martin's Press.