Wise Up
Gays and Lesbians
By David Bruce
June 16, 2008
• In 1997, Patricia Racette and Beth Clayton, both opera singers and both lesbians, performed together in Verdi’s “La Traviata” in Santa Fe. They had not known each other before, but did meet at a party before production started on the opera.
Ms. Racette remembers, “It was pretty clear that there was a lot of energy there. And then we got together in the summer and we started our staging, and it was lots of fireworks. It was pretty palpable. It was just a matter of time — let’s put it that way.”
It didn’t take much time. In the opera, Ms. Racette played Violetta, and Ms. Clayton played Flora, Violetta’s best friend. In the opera, Violetta falls in love with the main male character, Alfredo, but on the opera stage, Ms. Racette and Ms. Clayton fell in love.
At one point, Violetta was unconscious and Flora picked her up — and Flora gave Violetta a kiss.
Ms. Racette says, “I was on the floor with Beth and, per the staging, she comes in and scoops me up. But she leaned over and just plants one on me! I had to turn my entire body into her because I couldn’t stop laughing when I was supposed to be passed out!”
In 2005, the two women had a commitment ceremony. Ms. Clayton says, “We had a reception, and we had a beautiful dinner, and my parents paid for it; that was not our plan, but they sort of came through in that Southern tradition. It was very affirming and validating.”
• In 2008, Deborah Lawson, a senior at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School in Massachusetts, invited a friend to go with her to the prom because her boyfriend was out of town.
However, the friend was a cross-dressing gay guy, so the school principal said no to the prom date. Ms. Lawson called FOX News, FOX News called the school superintendant (the school principal’s boss), and the school superintendant decided to allow the cross-dressing gay guy to attend the prom with Ms. Lawson.
The school superintendant reasoned that since the cross-dressing gay guy would be wearing a dress, and since the school handbook stated that “everyone must wear appropriate dress,” and since a dress truly is appropriate for the prom, why not let the cross-dressing gay guy attend the prom?
Ms. Lawson says, “I think what I’ve learned is that if you scream loudly enough, you’ll get what you want.”
• Max Mutchnick, gay co-creator of the TV series “Will & Grace,” featuring gay characters Will Truman and Jack McFarland, has a voice that leads to interesting conversations with telephone operators. For example, he will make a call to information and hear, “Hello. This is information. How can I help you?”
He replies, “I’d like the Paramount Theater on Main Street.”
The telephone operator then says, “There is no Paramount Theater, ma’am.” He then says, “I’m not a ma’am.”
And the telephone operator says, “I didn’t call you a man, Miss.” This frequently happens to Mr. Mutchnick, who says, “I keep having this exchange over and over again.”
• Buffy Summers, the lead character of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” made headlines, including in “The New York Times,” when she slept with a lesbian in a comic-book story in 2008, although “Buffy” creator and writer Josh Whedon says that Buffy is not gay, but only experimenting.
Of course, the “Buffy” character Willow is gay, and Mr. Whedon has long been a friend of the gay and lesbian community. When Willow came out as gay in the TV series, a homophobic former fan posted a message on the Internet saying that he would never watch the show again. Mr. Whedon responded, “We’ll miss you.”
• People have been fired for being lesbians. In the early days of the gay rights movement, Jeanne Cordova got a job as a social worker after earning a master’s degree at UCLA. She says, “I had already been out, so I said, ‘F*** it, I’m not going back in the closet just because I got a professional job.’ At lunchtime I talked about my girlfriend and two days later I got fired.” Ms. Cordova is the author of “Kicking the Habit, a Lesbian Nun Story” (an autobiographical novel) and “Sexism: It’s a Nasty Affair.”
• British gay comedian Alan Carr’s on-stage persona is very much the same as his real-life off-stage persona.
Once, as Mr. Carr was about to perform, someone told him, “So I’ll just leave you 10 minutes so you can get into character.” Mr. Carr replied, “Pardon?”
Mr. Carr is an out comedian, but he does not specifically talk about being gay in his act. His gayness is simply there. When he is off-stage, occasionally drivers will yell at him, “Faggot!” Mr. Carr says, “I haven’t been called that since I was at school, so actually I get all nostalgic.”
• Gene is a gay man who is married and has two children; his wife, from whom he is separated, and his children all support him. His wife is his best friend, and when his son met at his high school a new girl who was curious about homosexuals and wanted to meet some “gay guys,” his son knew exactly what to do. He invited her to his house so she could meet his father, Gene.
• Gay African-American author James Baldwin did not believe in labels such as gay. When asked if he was gay, his usual reply was this: “I’ve loved a few men, and I’ve loved a few women.” He once said, “It seems to me, in the first place, that if one’s to live at all, one’s certainly got to get rid of the labels.”• Gay African-American author James Baldwin did not believe in labels such as gay. When asked if he was gay, his usual reply was this: “I’ve loved a few men, and I’ve loved a few women.” He once said, “It seems to me, in the first place, that if one’s to live at all, one’s certainly got to get rid of the labels.”
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