What’s in a Name?

California overturns gay marriage Ban; It is the 2nd state to allow gay marriage

JULIET

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
…

‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

ROMEO
I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet; Act II.

On Pigs and Piegons

Christopher Rice

“That’s not what I do. I might be more open to that label if I hadn’t introduced ensemble casts of characters. Granted, A Density of Souls is as close to a gay book as you can get. It revolves around a character’s homosexuality and others are described in terms of their reaction to the one character’s sexuality. In that sense it’s at the core of the book. The Snow Garden is about identity. With this book, I’m trying to shrug off the term “gay” author.”

Why can’t we get over this pigheaded particular/general dichotomy? The author, quite understandably, avoids getting pigeonholed, but can we gainsay the importance of advocating or advancing a particular respectable cause?

Cagey

Alfred Hitchcock, 1948. Rope

“Most expressions of homosexuality in most of movies are indirect. And what’s interesting about that is of course that is what it was like to express homosexuality in life, that we could only express ourselves indirectly, just as people on the screen could only express themselves indirectly. And the sense in which the characters are in the closet, the movie is in the closet and we are in the closet.”

Richard Dyer

Not Just a Star; The Moon

Jerusalem, 2006

“This year I invite all residents of Jerusalem to join the march and demand that Jerusalem remain both a holy and a democratic city. The prophet Zachariah calls on us to imagine the plazas of Jerusalem filled with old men and women, boys and girls playing together. The prophet adds, “Do not contrive evil against one another… those are the things I hate, declares the Lord.” If we wish to see Zachariah’s prophecy come true, we have to fight evil by speaking lovingly and respectfully - especially when we disagree. (glbtjews)

LEVI WEIMAN-KELMAN, rabbi of Kehillat Kol HaNeshama, a Reform congregation in Jerusalem

Twitch

It happened up at the family cottage of all places. I met him when I was swimming in the lake. He was as good a swimmer as I was and we began talking when we decided to dry off on the beach. The conversation turned to sex as it always does between guys. He was wearing a skimpy bathing suit and I was wearing cut off jeans. I noticed his bulge expanding as we continued chatting. Suddenly, my dick twitches and starts expanding.

Pale Red

Sunil Babu Pant, President of BDS

The Blue Diamond Society (BDS) of Nepal is one of the world’s most respected advocacy organizations fighting for the human rights of sexual minorities. Sunil Babu Pant, Founder and President of BDS, is Nepal’s first openly gay politician who was selected to represent a small communist party in the country’s new constituent assembly.

It is really interesting to hear that a communist party in a third world country tolerates gays. The struggle of LGBT people in the third world countries is not easy to grasp. Nepal is a country between China and India; so this amalgamation of the most advanced front of freedom with the worst form totalitarianism may come as no surprise.

Buckaroo

Copeira

A heterosexual buckaroo is practically asymmetrical, and for a classical sensibility asymmetry hasn’t much appeal. Buckaroo’s HOMO version, however, could be no joke at all. It can turn really dirty, strangely nasty, truly ugly. The moment the first drop of blood appears on his lips or nose you see what I mean. There are moments that you can’t tell if it is now a real fight, a play or a dance. You attack only to be defeated. You start from horsing around and you end up in a real fight, and sometimes vice versa. This is a choreography full of groundwork, as well as sweeps, kicks, headbutts, elbow-strikes, slaps, punches, and body-throws.

The Ambassador

John Bolton

John Bolton is one the few people in this world who I can perhaps fully associate with. Andrew Sullivan characterizes him this way: “a libertarian type on social issues, while being a rogue unilateralist abroad.” The former ambassador understands what is at stake when we talk about middle east, Islamofascism or terrorism. Quite understandably he also supports expanded civil rights for gay people. This isn’t so surprising. The very same rationale taken to justify a more inclusive society inside the US must be applied to explain why it is important to approach the Middle Eastern dictators as the challenge of the century. This means persistence, not unilateralism.

The First Action Hero

Arnold Schwarzenegger

WOCKNER: Speaking at the Log Cabin Republicans National Convention in San Diego, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the effort by anti-gay forces to amend the California Constitution to permanently ban same-sex marriage is “a total waste of time”. Asked about constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage he replied: “first of all, I think that it would never happen in California because I think that California people are much further along with that issue. And, number two, I will always be there to fight against that, because it would never happen. I think we need a constitutional amendment so that foreign-born citizens can run for president, but not about gay marriage. That’s a total waste of time.”

Endymion

Girodet, 1791. Endymion.

In classical mythology, Endymion was a handsome, young shepherd (sometimes king) from Elis or Caria. Selene (Phoebe, Artemis, Diana), the moon goddess, fell in love with him and consequently neglected her lunar responsibilities. As a result, Zeus offered Endymion a choice, death in whatever way he preferred or eternal sleep with perpetual youth. Endymion chose the latter. He slept in a cave on Mount Latmus where Selene continued to visit him. The Greek poet, Licymnius of Chios, however, suggests that it was the god Hypnos (Sleep) who loved Endymion and lulled him to sleep with his eyes open so that the god might forever gaze into them.