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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 37, Number 8. April 24 1972

Gays: The fight against ignorance

page 10

Gays: The fight against ignorance

Cartoon of a lesbian couple

The third Gay Liberation Conference, held over Easter at Victoria University, was the greatest show of solidarity ever displayed by New Zealand gays. One hundred and thirty people attended, coming from all parts of New Zealand. They came with the knowledge that they would have a hard battle ahead of them to educate the public, appallingly ignorant of the facts about homosexuality; but the greatest shock was to realise that social pressures, warped values and oppression had affected them so deeply that — although nearly all had come to terms with her or his own oppression, a major step in itself — they were only beginning to understand the problems of their brothers and sisters in the movement. It was a tactical conference, to design the policy of the Gay Liberation Front; but because of the youth of the movement, be-cause of the social oppression which is restricting everyone's freedom in some way or another, it had to become also an educational conference. None could have left with no more understanding than they had on arrival.

Futhermore, there were twice as many people as at the previous conference; several transexuals and a hermaphrodite were also present — with some suspicion on their part for they had no idea whether the gays wanted them. Gay women were present in force; but some of them, too, wondered how well they would work with the males who had dominated previous discussions.

The conference started with the reports from each centre. Only the major areas were able to report notable progress; small-mindedness, ignorance, fear of and fear from the homosexuals of each community dampened the efforts of those willing to expose themselves to public scorn by openly encouraging unity. Misrepresentations from the media also needed to be fought, the Auckland Star, Manawatu Evening Standard, the Evening Standard in Dunedin all refused to print advertisements for homosexual assistance groups, and sometimes even refused articles; other papers frequently needed strong pressure before anything would be printed. Dunedin reported that two days before, Youth line had co-operated in a gay referral service to assist homosexuals who found it hard to cope with social pressure, and the Otago Daily Times had lashed them for what it claimed was breaking the law — putting homosexuals in contact with each other. The editor later apologised. Chaff, from Massey University, had also ill-treated the GLF by printing a satirical article beside the GLF report.

The centres in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch had considerable progress to report; Palmerston North was too conservative for even the gays themselves to do anything. Nelson is "small minded"; Dunedin reported that nothing had been, done at all. Sandy's attempts in Rotorua had failed.

Thus it was only too evident that Gay Liberation, as an organisation, is just beginning. In some centres the resistance and fear is so great that it will need a lot of support to swing into action; in others, organisations staffed by keen and experienced people are already saving people's sanity and sometimes their lives. Overall, the outlook was hopeful; public resistance and ignorance was slowly being beaten back. When most people have been made aware of the facts of homosexuality, the remaining battle will be against apathy and fanatical prejudice. It seems that the willingness for battle shared by all the participants will be enough to overcome even these hurdles.

There were three sets of workshops planned for Saturday, with reports from each one. The first problem, however, was that one of the women had been hassled by the police (for being gay) who had then discovered she had an unpaid fine and wouldn't release her until it was paid. A whip-round rapidly raised the sum in donations and loans.... two hundred dollars, in about a quarter of an hour. The conference belatedly organised into workshops, the first being on "Gays against Society", with ten or so groups on different topics.

Q. I think the general idea's O.K., but why do homosexuals have to act like poofs?

A. "Camping it up" can be detrimental to the GLF's image; many do so as a reaction to 'straights'. But many internalise such mannerisims and they are an integral part of their personalities. Others don't.

Cartoon of a gay couple

The reports supplied a great deal of information on the repression and suffering of homosexuals. Institutions still use a form of aversion therapy with gay girls, rewarding them for heterosexual attitudes and behaviour, punishing them for gay behaviour. A former inmate of Dunedin Woman's Prison reported "the screws make gays guilty about their sexuality". Male gays are often attacked by other prisoners. Gay literature and visits in prisons was recommended. Views were divided on how radical tactics should be for the whole scene: marches are good, involving the maximum number of people and hitting people in high positions; but they all agreed that paint-ups were destructive. The workshop on religion agreed that the Old Testament was relevant to its own time, and not ours; gay speakers at congregations would be an advantage. Some churches did support the movement.

Q. Why do women have to split off into separate organisations? Don't they want to co-operate?

A. Definitely yes. But women have been oppressed for thousands of years, and with the best possible will men and women are still totally incapable of working together without assuming their socially conditioned master-servant roles. Until this changes, they must work apart, although for the same cause.

Sandy also gave another example of the sort of oppression to which gays are subjected. She had personally known a case where a male Maori drag had been given a note of immunity from a member of the vice squad. This note promised she would not be prosecuted if she testified against someone else. Later, she herself was charged. Society had left her ashamed of being a Maori, ashamed of being a homosexual, and petrified of the law. The judge ordered the jury to disregard the note, which was presented in court; she was given twelve months in jail. Anyone else would have appealed, and succeeded; she was too frightened of the law.

Homophobia is a condition brought about by social conditioning: fear of being near a homosexual. People fear what they don't know; and some gays fight off their repression by becoming more forceful. "Straights" have a fear of being gay themselves people often say they have never met a gay, as it is generally hidden.

Psychological reports seem to be distinctly untrustworthy, as they sometimes give exactly opposing conclusions. Why, after all, are we gay? There's no need for individuals to work it out if they are able to accept their sexuality, and there are many pseudo-scientifical books on the subject. For those who want facts, one participant had spent seven years in mental institutions which tried to "cure" her of her homosexuality. After all this time, including drug therapy, shock treatment and a period of 18 months solitary confinement, she still identifies as a gay. Gayness cannot be cured or beaten out of someone; it can only be repressed.

The group which had been discussing the media, and publicity for Gay Liberation agreed that, although it was a good idea to hit younger people, it was also important for law repeal to get at the older ones — the white middle-class middle aged male. This produced a violent response from a number of people. Dick Morrison declared that the present system was so hopeless that we shouldn't have anything to do with it; progressive ideas had to push older ones aside. Rae tried to inject some order into the meeting as feelings were roused, but others saw the question as being central to the conference. Some said they had no intention of changing their image to appeal to older people — it was better to start by educating children the right way and preparing for the future. Sandy announced "the only thing which links all of us here is that we're all homosexual and all human beings," which was widely supported. The main argument against the idea seemed to be: we homosexuals in here are not going to compromise for you straights out there. And I began to wonder at this dichotomy of gays versus straights: for wasn't it part of the Gay Liberation attitude that the majority of people were potentially bisexual.

I wondered how deep this division in views went, for each side had a considerable number of supporters. Dick Morrison explained later that his views were socialist, and that he was only annoyed at the idea that all our activities should be aimed towards appealing to a degenerate society.

Q. What do lesbians do in bed?

A. "Mind your own bloody business." Haven't you any imagination?

Later I talked with Robin and Jill, both of whom had more extreme views of establishing a separate homosexual society rather than integrating it with the outside world. "Present society doesn't have much to offer anyone," said Robin. Nevertheless, they were not advocating total separation. They wanted to encourage people such as psychiatrists and others in influential positions to alter their attitudes and announce the truth about gays — "Because it's them who've fucked up a lot of gays in the first place." On the other hand, they thought that extremists had a part to play in the GLF: "Things don't get done without extremists.... it took women blowing up letterboxes and chaining themselves up to get the vote for women." Jill said that more moderate views, toning down the demands of the GLF, could make her feel "sold out". They both thought it very important to have an established community to which gays could turn, and so Hugh's idea of a gay commune was valuable, for it would give them all mutual support and a means of identification. They didn't see this solution as being an indefinite one. "There would be integration eventually. The trouble is that society isn't ready for it yet, and gays aren't ready for it yet, just as gay feminists are not yet ready to work directly together with men."

page 11

They said that they preferred identification for their members as homosexuals rather than bisexuals, because many lesbians who had been "sprung" used the term as a more socially acceptable cover-up.

It seemed, then, that the vitriolic arguments came from a difference in emphasis; and the immense value of the conference was that such potentially damaging issues were brought into the open and found to be different faces of the same thing.

The second set of workshops came in during the afternoon. The workshop on "Women's Sexuality" highlighted an entire field of general social ignorance. Women were strongly channelled towards heterosexual activity after the age of 15; women are taught not to enjoy sex, not to understand or examine their own bodies, and yet female sex is more complicated than male — "It's easier to screw a guy than a woman". Women needed self-education, talk-backs and literature. '

Q. Why are women in Gay Lib when there aren't any laws against them?

A. False. They are not directly banned, but there is discrimination against lesbian couples in State Advances, other loans, tax relief and social security; they are also harrassed, kicked out of jobs, and tortured in jails and hospitals.

The workshops on "Roles and Role-Playing" and "The Gay Image" came to the conclusion that the "poofter" role was detrimental to the gay image. Gay stereotypes are in origin positive, as they affirm identity, act as a form of defiance, and so can overcome loneliness; but these stereotypes are all turned into negative ones by society. For a homosexual to "camp it up" was therefore detrimental as it presented an unacceptable image. Nevertheless, it must be accepted that this stereotype is the result of an initial positive identification. So that anyone who finds such mannerisms an integral part of his personality is justified without question, to behave in that way. Later discussion suggested that "camp" behaviour was not in fact feminine, from males, or masculine from females. Mike suggests that camp behaviour in a male is an absence of masculinity, and vice versa. Since "male" and "female" characteristics are forced upon us by society, there is no reason to assume that they are at opposite polarities of a scale, but simply arbitrary classifications.

People play roles because it is the easiest way to cope, in many cases. One good thing about being gay is that we don't have to accept such social roles. This was also a conclusion of the workshop on marriage; roles in marriage should not be stereotyped, i.e. specific tasks for either partner, and children would be free to choose their own identity.

The workshop on "coming out", i.e. admitting one's homosexuality, suggested that it was easier in a small town because everyone knows you any way, although this point of view was not affirmed in the rest of the conference. Everyone did agree that coming out was necessary; the workshop came to the conclusion that the gay community should move into the hetero environment, and non-gay pubs. Parents were the hardest to face.

Sometimes the discussion tended to break down into trivia. This was evident as people argued whether woman, girl, guy, fellow and so on were suitable terms to describe people. Theories were put forward to explain the most suitable: "man" and "woman" were decided to be the least sexist.

The speaker on lesbian mothers said that they were a particularly oppressed group; others she knew had been too frightened to turn up. People often did not believe that there could be such a thing as a lesbian mother she said it was often the case that lesbians were told they'd be O.K. if they had a good fuck. Some took this advice, ending up lesbian and pregnant. There was a great deal of social prejudice against them, and legal discimination; she herself could not speak in public for fear of the treatment her children would get. Howard, a transexual father, said that he had found the best solution to be to let the children realise that security they had at home was far more important than outside pressure, and they were adjusting well.

Q. Why bother about drags when they're just perving play-actors?

A. The true drag is a man who wants to be a woman or vice versa. They are hardly play-acting considering some are willing to go through immense difficulties, ridicule and considerable physical pain in a sex-change operation.

It was pointed out that lesbian mothers receive no tax relief for dependents, and suffered fear that child welfare might take the children away. The case of Pauline was brought up: a woman who, on the grounds that she went to University extension courses and was a lesbian, a member of Gay Liberation, Women's Liberation and the Young Socialists, was considered to be failing in motherhood and lost custody of her children.

Sunday began with the appearance of some gay newcomers, encouraged by the conference. Then came the discussion on Gay Pride Week, and the tactics to be used. The slogan 'Gay is Proud' was discussed, wondering whether it was better to change the image so as not to alienate more conservative people. Robin's view was unequivocal — "We should stop licking the feet of the heterosexuals!" Quite a few agreed with her.

Richard, from Coromandel, said that he had found no support in his area and so was going to stage a talk back by himself. Others applauded him and said they would go up to support him.

At this point the question of the women's separation from the main GLF movement was brought up. "The gay women are continually bitching about being repressed by men, but it's them who exclude us from their meetings!" said Graeme. Maureen suggested that women had missed out in the past and were making up for it now.

"The women are trying to make a split and I will fight this tooth and nail!" was Graeme's reply. Several women explained that men, whether they wanted to or not, invariably dominated such meetings; and Dick Morrison forcibly summed up the position. "Men oppress women; that is a fact of this male-dominated society," he said through his teeth. "Men oppress women all the time whether they want to or not; and I am oppressing you at this moment by standing up and forcing my point of view upon you."

Graeme, and quite a number of the others there, had come to the conference aware that they knew far more than most people about the problems of gays. But they had not taken into account the extent to which social conditioning affects everyone, to the point that men and women are not yet capable of changing their behaviour towards one another even if they want to.

Next on the agenda came the discussion of law reform. Dick suggested that we should accept any positive steps, criticising them if necessary, but others were against any form of compromise; it appeared that the police were no longer strictly enforcing the law prohibiting male homosexuality.

Q. What's the point of Women's Liberation telling women to be lesbians?

A. It's an extremist attitude, but the idea is that men's domination of women depends on their being necessary. Nothing shakes a man's ego more than to find he isn't needed. Lesbians don't need men — for anything.

Sandy then reported on the drag workshop. She said they had decided on 'drag' as the most acceptable all inclusive term: a transvestite was one who wore women's clothing for kicks, usually heterosexual; a transexual was one who wanted to change his or her sex. She pledged the support of drags in the movement, and the conference gave them a vote of confidence.

She reported that drags have difficulty with toilets, as they got thrown out of both. The operation for sex-change was hard to get, but he law even then would not recognise your new sex. She said that the drag image was a genuine one, and not a put-on, but accepted that it was unfavourable to the GLF image. Michelle and Howard then joined her at the front to answer questions on drags. They were asked their sexual orientation: Sandy said simply — "Anyone!" Howard is a male drag who thinks of himself as female, but is married to a woman and so thinks of himself as a lesbian.

Cartoon of a menacing group of people

Michelle's initial comments about women's sexuality brought cries of "sexist" until she explained she was a hermaphrodite, which silenced the audience. The statement produced a strong sense of shock in many people, who had thought of her as nothing more than a man very blatantly dressed in women's clothing — miniskirt and handbag. It is ironic that there is no apparent legal discrimination against Michelle or people like her, and yet the treatment given her by society was savage enough to give her a nervous breakdown and treatment at a mental hospital.

Q. Someone told me there are forty thousand homosexuals in New Zealand. Sounds like bullshit to me, I've never met one!

A. You've met dozens. It's just that many risk everything — jobs, sanity, freedom, perhaps even their children, if they admit to being homosexuals.

Gay Liberation is only beginning to understand the oppression of hermaphrodites outside society has no understanding whatever. "We should look into this," said someone, "if it's reasonably common". "Reasonably common!" exploded Howard, "If there's only one in a million we should help them!" The response of the participants showed that they thought so too.

Howard continued with the discussion on drags. He said the best thing to do now was for gay males to encourage them to join, as these had been the two sectors most alienated from each other previously.

There is no law against wearing clothes of the opposite sex.

Monday, the final day, swung into action with a feeling of considerable achievement, plenty of work to do, and a slight sense of loss — the agenda. However, resurrection was out of question so only issues were discussed which importance and time allowed

Sharon gave the report on Gay women. She said that a lot of men do not understand much about gay women. "If hostility towards men causes lesbianism," she quoted, "then in male-dominated society lesbianism is a sign of health." Women with other problems often have it assigned to their lesbianism. (Robin said that a doctor had told her that she was a lesbian because she couldn't make it with men — the implication being, if you can't get a man, then it's easy to get a woman.) The nice girl is respected and her individuality is erased. A career woman is more independent, but pays for it by working for less money than her male counter part while being under more stress. A lesbian is free of her dependence on men so does not have to cater for his ego; the independent woman is a threat to male security, and lesbians are equal partners, rather than sucking up to an oppressor. Some of the more radical psychiatrists and therapists have been asking what they can do to support women. Some of the answers were — file suits against practitioners who mistreat lesbians; stop putting women in hospital as political prisoners; stop trying to give your male patients "healthy male attitudes"; encourage men to police themselves — to ask themselves in what ways they were benefiting from oppression of women.

The question of bisexuality was brought up. Sharon said she didn't like labels, for once people were categorised they were forced to live up to them. The division between straights and gays was an awkward one, and there were different consequences from categorising women in such a way, rather than men. One delegate asked what he could do to support women. The quickest answer was "get rid of your own female stereotypes". Sandy pointed out that by being a drag she was not playing at being a woman; she felt she was one. Nigel explained that camp behaviour is not femininity but an absence of masculinity.

Lesbians have a twofold demand: women's rights, and the eradication of discrimination against women on the grounds of sex preference. Men are heeded to help wear down this oppression, but there was a danger in allowing men to participate as they tended to dominate discussion. Straight men put down women in the same way as they put down gays.

The forum held on Monday afternoon has already been dealt with in last week's issue. But the net effect of this conference was to bring together divergent factions from all over New Zealand, so they could all present their problems to the others; the drags are beginning to change from a feeling of suspicion to one of co-operation with gays; the men are beginning to understand the problems of the women, and vice-versa. For these reasons alone the Third National Conference has become a unifying force for all the gays of New Zealand. Fear and ignorance are being broken down, and only fanatical prejudice remains in the way of progress.

Marty

Q. Well, at least I'm not a bloody poof!

A. Don't bank on it. There's about a fifty-fifty chance that you aren't 100% heterosexual, just as the majority of homosexuals are partly hetero. You've just had it repressed. Yes, you. Don't you feel something lacking when you can't relate to members of your own sex in a natural way for fear of being labelled a poof? Social conditioning is repressing you as well..........