8 — OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS — Auausr 1999 III In our continuing eflort to provide GLBT Vermonters and their allies information about the world outside our state, Out in the Mountains is pleased to ofler excerpts from GLAADAlert, the activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Readers should note that these alerts are not necessarily a reflection of the opinions of OITM or Mountain Pride Media. Rather; they are written by the stafl of GLAAD in their mission to “promote fair, accurate and inclusive representation in the media as a means of challenging homophobia and all forms of dis- crimination based on sexual orientation or identity. " I National REVIEW IIIIS a “liar! Moment” In the National Review’s July 26 issue, senior editor Richard Brookhiser presents a glib and trivializing view of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community. Early in the piece, he points to media blitzes surrounding Ellen DeGeneres and the sexual orien- tation of Teletubby Tinky Winky, as evidence of our situation in a gay “Moment” - a state he defines as being characterized by over- whelming attention given to a minority group. Brookhiser cites two other groups as having had American Moments in this centu- ry: Irish Catholics and Jews. And he draws a link between the three groups, supposing that “gayness in the Gay Moment has many qualities of a religion The cen- tral tenet of the faith is a creation myth, about how gays got that way.” He goes on to state that “the orthodox belief [in the ‘faith’] is that any man or woman self-defined as gay was gay from birth or infancy .” As for the genesis of the current “moment,” Brookhiser points to a post-World War II America. “Gayness as a movement,” he asserts, “arose from men looking for lost male- ness in all the wrong places.” Objecting to the term “moral majority,” he continues to note that the “normal majority” is titil- lated by lesbians and gay men. But here, Brookhiser boldly states that “[t]he sexual turmoil in which so many gay men live - worse even than their own - they conveniently ignore.” Brookhiser’s vision of the future is no less cynical than the rest of his piece. “There is a specter haunting the Gay Moment: the specter of bisexuali- ty,” he writes. Referring * to Chasing Amy, a film in which the lead - a self-identified lesbian - struggles to come to terms with her love for a man, Brookhiser wonders: “If we’re supposed to believe what people say, what do we believe when we say this? It would be strange if the gay ortho- doxy of sexual determinism were to be undermined by eros.” In closing, he writes that “[t]he real end [for the Gay Moment] will be boredom. Like the Irish and the Jews before them, gays will run out of things to say. Some other well-spoken outsiders will audition for center stage. We’ll all move on.” In this highly problematic piece, Brookhiser focuses his energies on using stereotypes and pitting community members against one another. His assertion that there is an “orthodox” view within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is absurd for its homogenization of community members (although he also portrays a divisive rifi and lack of respect for intellectual diversity). His casual omission of hate crimes, legislative struggles, GLAADALERT, P28 Address Phone C] One Year ($20) New Subscriber Name Address City Donor Name (or Anonymous) You know who needs a subscription to OI TM . your neighbor, our out-of-state your gym, nends, YOUT d0Ct0I3 your high school Your dentist, guidance counselor, your therapist, your mom... Why not donate one...or two? E] 2 Years ($35) [I Low Income ($10) State Make checks payable to Mountain Pride Media, and send to: OITM, PO Box 1078, Richmond, VT 05477-1078 VERMCi‘iY‘S FORUM FOR LESBIAN. GAV MSEXUAL. AND TRANSGENDER ISSUES ' UT IN THE MOUNTAINS Zip await a apbtilual liealinga. H {Book yawt waxlialiop lime.’ » RICHMOND, VERMONT ' (802) 434-2037, 434-5224 EMAIL: THESPAVT@AOL.COM it it phoenix rising * . - Sp||"!?CCl icwelry & gills - it The way is simple but the crooked path is more popular. Zen saying . . . ‘I’ . l0A mom stieetoneilagmup moni_pelier 802.229.0522 Each Ofliea is independently Owned And Operated. 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