It鈥檚 refreshing to absorb diverging opinions on the hot issues of the day from those who鈥檝e been around long enough to remind us where the 鈥榞ay movement鈥� came from and where it may have shifted to.
Last week I attended 鈥楢fter Homosexual: The Legacies of Gay Liberation鈥�, a panel discussion in Melbourne to celebrate the 40th anniversary of academic Dennis Altman鈥檚 seminal book Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation.
It was a joy to hear three academics 鈥� Altman, Alice Echols (US) and Jeffrey Weeks (UK) 鈥� in full flight, and a reminder that when focusing on current rights campaigning, some historical perspective can sometimes save us from ourselves.
One topic for discussion was Sex In The City star Cynthia Nixon鈥檚 recent comments that she chose to be gay.
鈥淔or me, [sexuality] is a choice,鈥� Nixon told The New York Times. 鈥淚 understand that for many people it鈥檚 not, but for me it鈥檚 a choice, and you don鈥檛 get to define my gayness for me.鈥�
After being roundly pelted with criticism Nixon was forced to run for cover, issuing a statement to The Advocate confirming being gay isn鈥檛 a choice for everyone.
I sympathise with Nixon鈥檚 earlier remarks. I also realise for some people being gay is not a choice. Not everyone feels the same way about their sexuality. I understand people being upset the religious right might 鈥榰se it against us鈥�, but as Nixon pointed out, this is letting the bigots shape our position on who and what we are.
Weeks鈥� insights helped me square my own feelings about the saga.
鈥淥ur sexuality is something very personal, it鈥檚 different in every person and it鈥檚 made up of a host of different things … there are lots of people who change sexuality through a lifetime and there鈥檚 a huge variety of ways of expressing it,鈥� Weeks told the conference.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 base a political movement on saying that the only valid reason for our struggles around sexuality is because we鈥檙e born with it.
鈥淚t can鈥檛 be a matter of faith. It鈥檚 got to be a matter of science and the science is always inconclusive about it. It has been for 100 years and it will continue to be so.鈥�
More importantly, there needs to be enough room within the LGBTI community to be able to say how we feel 鈥� otherwise we鈥檙e scarcely better than those who seek to silence us in the first place.
Maybe what Nixon was trying to say was that how we “express or parade” our sexuality is a choice? My career would have been impossible in the times I was working had I publicly expressed my sexuality. I’d have probably been in the clink as well.