I stumbled across this article in Facebook, today.
It's about a teacher in The USA who (quote) was forced into retirement for showing archival queer-scare movie; and it made me think about how difficult it has been for some (not all) of my generation to come to terms with the way attitudes towards the LGBT community have changed since we were young in the forties and fifties.
Take myself, for example.
As it happens, for a good many years; and for a variety of reasons, I have become good friends with several lesbians and gays and, as a consequence, I understand how warm-hearted, loving, and generous most of them are. However, it hasn't been easy; because - and I realise that some might suggest that this might be a figment of a fertile imagination - but, as was depicted in the video of the aforementioned movie, as a youth and a young man, there were three separate occasions when I felt threatened by the unwelcome attention of men who, in those days, were known as queers.
Now, I know that I'm not alone in having experienced such situations. Two of them occurred whilst I was in the army and, fortunately, fellow squadies would usually alert newcomers to where the danger might lie and the seriousness of the situation was often eased by a sense of togetherness coupled with a sense of humour.
The fact remains, however, that the sensation of fear and revulsion is difficult to erase from the memory; so, I would ask those of a younger generation to try to understand that some of us are not homophobic just for the sake of it; there is often a very good reason. Furthermore, dragging ourselves into the twenty-first century can sometimes be difficult; so, be gentle with us.
It's about a teacher in The USA who (quote) was forced into retirement for showing archival queer-scare movie; and it made me think about how difficult it has been for some (not all) of my generation to come to terms with the way attitudes towards the LGBT community have changed since we were young in the forties and fifties.
Take myself, for example.
As it happens, for a good many years; and for a variety of reasons, I have become good friends with several lesbians and gays and, as a consequence, I understand how warm-hearted, loving, and generous most of them are. However, it hasn't been easy; because - and I realise that some might suggest that this might be a figment of a fertile imagination - but, as was depicted in the video of the aforementioned movie, as a youth and a young man, there were three separate occasions when I felt threatened by the unwelcome attention of men who, in those days, were known as queers.
Now, I know that I'm not alone in having experienced such situations. Two of them occurred whilst I was in the army and, fortunately, fellow squadies would usually alert newcomers to where the danger might lie and the seriousness of the situation was often eased by a sense of togetherness coupled with a sense of humour.
The fact remains, however, that the sensation of fear and revulsion is difficult to erase from the memory; so, I would ask those of a younger generation to try to understand that some of us are not homophobic just for the sake of it; there is often a very good reason. Furthermore, dragging ourselves into the twenty-first century can sometimes be difficult; so, be gentle with us.
