[Dean's World] Ron Coleman: The obsesson that dare not speak its name

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Posted by Ron Coleman:
The obsesson that dare not speak its name
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1162572549.shtml


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   Homosexuality -- what to do about it, what not to about it, whether to
   pay it tribute -- is the number-one domestic political issue in the
   United States today. It's part of every campaign, courts play it out
   in elections, members of Congress resign over it if they're
   Republicans, governors even in Red states resign over it. It's the
   obsession of one of the first, biggest and sometimes best [1]bloggers;
   it's a jealously guarded electoral interest group and a weapon against
   adversaries by the Democrats; it's a bête noire for conservative
   Republicans; it's danced around by moderate politicians; it turns city
   clerks into national figures. It's on display in the park, demanding
   equal time for public displays of affection; [<img src=] it's the
   washboard abs on the [2]Abercrombie models; it's teaching the straight
   guy how to dress and make his apartment fabulous. It's on everyone's
   lips.

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   It's a once and former sin turned by many churches into a very
   [3]sacrament. It's here, it's queer, and we've got to get used to "it"
   -- whatever exactly it means, however, is the debate.

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   I don't have an overarching theory about why homosexuality (mainly
   male) has become the political obsession of the day. But it has. The
   number of homosexuality-related scandals in the political realm,
   counting from Jim McGreevey through the [4]allegations (denied) that
   came out just yesterday against the Rev Jim Haggard -- which is
   politically significant -- is astonishing, without precedent, and a
   phenomenon with which we are having a great deal of trouble coming to
   grips.

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   I don't have any reason to assume there is "more homosexuality" about
   in our society today than there was 100 years ago. But is it possible
   that the obsession, the challenge, the moment comes about now because
   we have no idea, post-feminism, post-agricultural-society,
   post-industrial-era, post-sole-breadwinner, what manhood is any more,
   or even what right such a concept has to demand of us personally, as a
   society, or at all?

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References

   1. http://www.andrewsullivan.com/
   2. http://www.abercrombie.com/anf/index.html
   3. http://www.thewitness.org/agw/heyward061104.html
   4. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061103/ap_on_re_us/haggard_sex_allegations_30