Watch Me Entertain Myself!

Sacha Guitry once said, "You can pretend to be serious, but you can't pretend to be witty." Oh yes, I'm the great pretender.
(pilot episode: 20 January 2004)

Thursday, November 09, 2006

“What Is The Essence To Be A Gay?”

Benevolent judges, ladies and gentlemen, good evening!

Trying to define “homosexuality” and “gay” and thinking that the two words are synonymous will get you caught in a discussion that is still ongoing. Worse, terms such as “sexual orientation,” “sexual history” and “self-identification” are also thrown into the fray. I am not about to write a thesis, nor am I going to choose this topic should I decide to write a book.

I guess the simplest way I can define a homosexual person is this: if he is sexually and romantically attracted to people of the same gender, and if he identifies himself as such.

(Dear lesbians, for the sake of simplicity I just decided to limit my pronouns to “he” and my discussion to gay men, no offense meant of course.)

Which means that everything else—the fashion, the attitude, the loud behavior, the love for beauty contests, the tight-fitting muscle shirts, the impressive pecs, the cross-dressing, the discreet-acting—all that is relative and merely indicative of what most gay men appropriate for themselves, in their lifestyle, behavior, manners and values. At best these behaviors and manners are generalizations of what gay men are. Call them “circumstantial evidence,” so to speak.

Let me put it this way. Many New Yorkers are seen as pushy, aggressive, hurried people. That’s due to the effect of living in a fast-paced city. But not all New Yorkers are pushy, aggressive and hurried; likewise, not all pushy, aggressive and hurried people are New Yorkers.

Not all gay men should be discreet and straight-acting; in the same spirit, not all gay men should be loud and flamboyant. But gay men should have the freedom to choose to be discreet and straight-acting, or to be loud and flamboyant, or to be somewhere in between, or to be both depending on the occasion. The beauty of this “rainbow coalition” is that we should embrace all our differences, because the only thing that’s similar to us homosexuals is our sexual preference. We can view all other preferences as what makes us human, not just gay.

Taken to another level, gays and straights should be able to act any which way they want, whether conservative or flamboyant. It would be a wonderful world if we all can be tolerant with straight guys who sport Mohawks, leather jackets and tattoos as well as with flamboyant queens who parade in feathers and high heels.

Too idealistic? Impossible to achieve in this lifetime? I suppose. But there’s no harm in starting now.

And with that, I thank you benevolent judges. Bow.

6 comments:

fried-neurons said...

Bravo, McVie! Bravo!

Nelson said...

Taob na silang lahat sa Q&A moh!

Anonymous said...

Yey! Score a 9.879 for difficulty of landing :)

Sa Broken Hearts Club ba yun?? Where a gay guy said that he and his gay friends are like monkeys on a National Geographic special, scratching and biting at each other? For such a discriminated social group, we can even be more judgmental and discriminating against our own members than straight people are to us. Ohhhh, why can't we just all be happy and gay? Cue Judy: Somewhereee...over the rainboowww..wayyy up high...

By the way Sir McV, where's your podcast? C'mon we'll make you famous. Grab a mic and yap for 30 minutes about anything under the sun. :) take care!

Anonymous said...

You are right, McVie. The essence to be a gay, as you put it, is sexual preference and, arguably, self-identification. All the rest are personality choices, of which we should all be tolerant and open-minded.

Speaking for myself, one of the best things about being publicly gay is to be able to wear anything I want, and to not have to worry if it makes me look gay (i.e., tight-fitting shirts over red jeans). The straights and the closeted have to be so praning about their wardrobe choices. For as long as the private parts are covered, people should be able to wear anything they want in public, assuming good judgment, if not good taste. Sorry na lang yung mga may delicate sensibilities.

Vive le difference!

Rhap-rap said...

Well said dude!

If its ok dude, I decided to repost this one on my blog... full credits to you...

Maybe this could be of help to my fellow Taclobanons....

Chow...

buff said...

Your blog has just left me stunned. It is a wonderful piece.
how great the world could be if everyone just tolerated and accepted each other's difference.
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