Setting the Record Queer: Ernst Röhm, the Gay Nazi.

Ernst Röhm was among Adolf Hitlers closest friends and supporters. That is, up until he was assassinated by Hitler on the Night of the Long Knives.

A founding member of the Sturmabteilung (SA), Röhm eventually became its commander. Reports indicate that Röhm and Hitler became such close comrades, that Röhm was the only individual that Hitler addressed with the German Familiar term 'du'. Likewise, not only was Röhm the only person who could address Hitler as such, but he alone could refer to Hitler as 'Adolf'.

Röhm had a reputation for being brutal street fighter. In addition to saying "All revolutions devour their own children, Röhm also claimed:
Since I am an immature and wicked man, war and unrest appeal to me more than good bourgeois order. Brutality is respected, the people need wholesome fear. They want to fear someone. They want someone to frighten them and make them shudderingly submissive.

This illustrates Rohm's theory that the most effective form of terrorism, is terrorism that targets the lower classes, rather than the rulers of a society. The idea of course, that the rulers are better protected as well as being easy to replace. However, the result of targeting the lower classes is a clampdown on their rights and freedoms, ultimately resulting in chaos. Compare that to what is going on today in the world today after 9/11 or the society created by George Orwell in his novel 1984.


Ernst Röhm eventual downfall came about from Hitler's growing belief that Röhm was his greatest threat. Fearing a possible SA take over, Hitler had members of the SA Command arrested and executed. In the case of Röhm, Hitler initially refused to order his execution, instead giving Röhm the opportunity to commit suicide. Röhm refused, famously saying "If I am to be killed, let Adolf do it himself!" He was executed on July 2nd, 1934.

It's important to note that Röhm's sexual orientation was well known to both Hitler and the German public while Röhm held power in the SA. This never seemed to bother Hitler as he defended Röhm, saying "the SA are a band of warriors and not a moral institution."

Furthermore, one of the often overlooked aspects of the Holocausts was that the Nazi's also targeted gay men and trans individuals, in addition to Jews, Catholics, Jehovaha Witnesses, people with disabilities, among many other groups.

Why bring this up? Because there are always new lessons that history can teach us. It appears there is nothing stopping the oppressed from becoming the oppressor. Röhm's sexual orientation was no secret, yet he still supported an organization that led one of the most vicious attacks against queers in modern history.

Sources:
Queers in History by Keith Stern
Ernst Röhm, Jewish Virtual Librry
Ernst Röhm, Wiki Quotes
Ernst Röhm, Wikipedia

Queer Review: Invisible Monsters

Invisible Monsters is by Chuck Palahniuk, the same author who wrote the novel Fight Club. Readers of both will readily identify the extraordinarily chaotic, yet still, somehow, understandable narrative that marks each book.

The plot of Invisible Monsters is revealed piecemeal, non-chronologically, through the eyes of a former beauty obsessed model, now hideously deformed "monster", by the name of Shannon McFarmland. After Shannon's life is nearly destroyed through an unexpected accident (the lower part of her face is shot off), she meets Queen Brandy Alexander, a former male on the last stages of a gender reassignment procedure. Wishing to escape her life, Shannon joins with Brandy in hopes of escaping the hideous monster that she now has become. Because no one will now look at her, Shannon steals a chicken from a supermarket, just to see what would happen.

What follows is strange journey through America as Shannon, Brandy, and their male escort Seth, that is like Alice In Wonderland minus the fantasy elements and the weirdness raised to the highest possible level, plus a few more. In short, this book is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended.

The plot is a lot more complicated then the preceding description would imply, but there are a lot of violent plot twists and daring turns, a few of which I was able to guess at, though mostly I failed to see coming. This is the type of story that works best when one finds out those twist and turns for oneself.

There are plenty of themes and ideas that Palahniuk analyzes, deconstructs and willfully attacks, sledgehammer swinging merrily away. An ongoing theme revolves around the visibility of "beautiful people" in our culture versus the way plain people are usually just ignored, thus leading to the extreme lengths people will go to either become more beautiful or retain their good looks as old age advances. Invisible Monsters is a truly fascinating work, that says a lot about how outward appearance can shape one's inner identity and the impact of societal perceptions.

The usual cliches apply "Invisible Monsters is a real page turner" or "I couldn't put it down" or "a modern masterpiece", which is ironic in a way, as Palahniuk is not the sort of writer who deals with cliches or predictable plot points. In the end, I found this to be a rare combination of smart writing that contains more then a few visceral gut punches. Invisible, this book should not be.

Queer Issue: Bullied to Death.

I intend to talk about a very sensitive and personal issue here. I make no apologies for what I am about to say here nor do I believe that I have any reason to hide now from the public eye events that occurred years ago.

Recently, news reports have focused in on a string of suicides committed by LGBTQA teenagers. They have successfully brought to light a serious problem, one that is not new, but has existed for decades. While this issue is now in the public eye, I have decided to talk in detail about my own experiences during my senior year of high-school.

It started while I was working on my Boy Scout Eagle Project. For those who don't know, the Eagle Scout award is the highest rank in Boy Scouts.

My memory is a little fuzzy on the details. I remember that on the last day of my Eagle Scout project, which was a Sunday, I can remember making some excuse to my Mom to skip church. Once I was alone I got a knife and proceeded to try and slit my wrists.

I don't remember now, why I wanted to kill myself. Nor do I recall, what compelled me several weeks later to try and suffocate myself with duct tape on my 18th birthday. I'm not sure either, as to my motivations when I found myself in front of the garage with a plan to park my mom's car inside and leave it running.

What would drive anyone to do this?

I can come up with only one rational answer. By living in perpetual fear. By being told that being queer was something to be ashamed of. That being queer is inferior, gross, and disgusting. That queers should not be seen or heard in public. That you should never, ever tell anyone who you were.

This is the message that was not sent to just me, but sent and reinforced to every queer teen in this country by their peers, parents, teachers, social institutions, the media, and even our government. Don't ask Don't tell has been the mantra of the U.S. Military and the Boy Scouts of America. That's so gay! was the in way of expressing disdain for anything "dumb" or "stupid" for as long as I can remember.

Should I wonder now, why I did what I did? Is it any surprise, that after I found the will to stand up in front of a class of my peers and tell them that I was gay, that I never once tried to commit suicide again?

I'd like to make a few points in closing:

1) It's important to note that bullying of anyone is a problem. Children and teenagers need to understand that picking on, insulting, or intimidating their peers, is absolutely unacceptable.

2) While media attention has been pointed towards a few recent suicides of LGBTQA youth, let us not forget that this is an on going issue, involving many, many more people. And it is not limited to queer youth, but the scope and problem of bullying expands even further.

3) In my experience, society in the form of teachers, parents, clergy and other authority figures, frequently reinforce the idea to youth, that simply being different (in any way) is somehow "wrong".

And so, let us not forget about those who have gone before. Those who were bullied for being different. Those who were victims for no other reason then being themselves. That is all I ask.

Queer Review: Angels In America

Angels In America was a TV mini series, produced by HBO and based on the Tony Kushner play of the same name. The plot is an elaborate affair, focusing in on the evolving AIDS crisis of the mid 1980s and featuring an ensemble cast of fictional and non-fictional characters.

Prior Walter (Justin Kirk) has just been diagnosed with AIDS and now faces a long, agonizing slide towards death. His Jewish lover, Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman) finds himself unable to cope with watching Prior die, abandons him, eventually hooking up with Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson). Joe is friends with Roy Cohen (Al Pacino) who is offering Joe a high placed position, which would force him to move from New York City to Washington. When he discuses Cohen's proposal with his wife Harper (Mary-Louise Parker) she refuses to go along with him due to her severe depression and anxiety. Joe Pitt is a closeted gay man because of his firm religious beliefs and their relationship is deteriorating as a result. Roy Cohen is also closeted, but his reasons have more to do with wanting to maintain his high social status and influence.

While all of this is going on, Prior Walter is receiving visions of Angels (Emma Thompson) proclaiming him to be a prophet. As the plot progresses it is revealed that God has abandoned heaven and the Angels blame mankind for this. Their message therefore is for humans to stop changing or "moving". Along with the assistance of his friend Belize (Jeffery Wright) and Joe Pitt's mother, Hannah (Meryl Streep) Prior must decide to whether or not to believe these visions, which have many implications for the future.

Roy Cohen is also receiving visions, but of a much more ominous type. As he too begins to die from AIDS, Cohen is being haunted by Ethyl Rosenberg (also played by Meryl Streep), who was executed for being a communist spy and blames Roy for her death. It is worth noting that Cohen and Rosenberg are based on the real life individuals who share their names.

Thematically, the movie is asking questions regarding the role of religion in a modern society that is struggling with acceptance and tolerance of all people as well as how it is possible to live when one is dying from a disease that has no true cure and results in slow, agonizing death for almost all its victims. As for the religious concepts, the movie relies a great deal on Mormon mythology, in fact all of the Pitts are all devout Mormons.

At the end of the series, a note of hope is offered up for AIDS sufferers. In a lesser movie, this might not have worked, but it does here due to the graphic and realistic way the ravaging effects of AIDS has on its victims - which was practically a death sentence at the time when treatments were less effective. I made the mistake of trying to watch the movie while eating dinner. Not since I watched The X-Files in high-school, have I found myself looking away from the screen so often while trying not to up-chuck.

The story is effective in it's portrayal of issues affecting queers - religion, acceptance and tolerance, living with HIV/AIDS. The acting by the leads is excellent, without a weak performance to be found. I was particularly fond of Meryl Streep's performances as Ethyl and Hannah and Joe Kirk as a man who has been abandoned as he faces a terrible death.

I would recommend this movie to those who are interested in dramas that portray real issues and weighty ideas, rather then simply skimming over them to get to more exploitative material. Ultimately, this is a rare gem, a well made movie with messages and themes, that is not afraid to say what it has to say.

Queer Review: Let Me In vs. Let the Right One In

The 2010 film Let Me in is an American remake of the Swedish vampire film Let the Right One. Directed by Matt Reeves, Let Me In tells the tale of a boy being bullied at school Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and the friendship that developes between him and a feminine vampire Abby (Chloe Meretz). In the Sweedish film, the characters are Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and the vampire is Eli (Lina Leandersson).

Overall, the American remake is competently done and retains many of the qualities that made the Swedish version so beautifully frightening. However, it also features some rather shoddy special effects work. Furthermore, the two key relationships - those between the boy and his new vampire friend and the vampire and her guardian - are presented with less ambiguity than in the original. This is critical in the sense that it's clearer much earlier in the film what is really occurring plot wise, thus dissolving some potential tension.

Another big difference, is that Owen is less disturbed then Oskar. In Let the Right One In he is a potential serial killer or school shooter. We even see him collecting material on murders and serial killers in a scrapbook. In Let Me In, he's merely lonely and angry with being bullied.

Also of note, in the Swedish original, there's a brief shot, that suggests that Eli is not a girl, but rather a castrated boy - which follows from the back-story of the book by John Ajvide Lindqvist that the Swedish movie was based upon. However, in the American version, the shot is absent - although set up, which made me wonder if it might show up in some extended edition on DVD. Also, here in the American version, Abby is presented as much more feminine, whereas in the original, the presentation of her character was more androgynous.

With this change comes a fundamental shift of the dynamic of the two movies key relationship. In the American version, it's much, much more suggestive of a romantic relationship, whereas the original skewed more towards the main characters developing a very close friendship. Although, Abby keeps insisting (as in the original) "I'm not a girl".

One of the few upsides to the remake (besides the reduction of an annoying subplot about a woman who is turned into a vampire by Abby/Eli) is that Chloe Meretz gives an amazing performance as Abby, giving a subtle and mature performance as a hunted and ancient creature. Not that Lina Leandersson didn't give a strong performance, just that Meretz gives the more memorable one. None of the other actors in the American version, in my opinion, are better or worse, when compared to their counterparts.

With that said, if one has a choice, I would recommend the Swedish version over the American remake. Let the Right One In overall has better atmosphere and more interesting character development, with none of the embarrassing special effects work of Let Me In, thus making it a clear decision.

Queer Review: Capote

It has been said, that great writing is born out of great suffering. Irregardless of that being the case, Truman Capote certainly suffered in writing his most famous novel, In Cold Blood. The film Capote directed by Bennett Miller, chronicles Capote's experiences writing In Cold Blood as his growing obsession with his subjects nearly leads him to ruin.

After reading about the murder of an entire family, Truman Capote travels to Kansas to investigate the killing. He brings along with him his good friend Nell Harper Lee, who had just finished the manuscript for To Kill a Mockingbird. Together, Lee and Capote investigate the killings and the subsequent impact on the community they took place in. At first Capote's fay mannerisms and big city style, leave him on the outside. Perseverance and a some help from Lee, eventually land him on the inside, including the good graces of the local chief of police (Chris Cooper). When the killers, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino), are caught, Capote interviews them, eventually developing a sympathetic relationship with them. Capote even ends up going so far as to pay for a lawyer to provide for their defense.

The main thrust of the movie shows Capote's growing obsession with the killers, particularly Perry Smith. The relationship that develops between these two is incredibly twisted, with each using the other for their own ends. Capote wishes to know the grisly details of the killings, while also having sympathies for Smith's plight. It's less clear what Smith wants (besides a high priced defense lawyer). A sympathetic posthumous portrayal in the novel Capote is writing? A friend and intimate? Something else?

In real life, rumors suggested that Capote and Smith engaged in a more intimate relationship then is what is depicted on film. Certainly the suggestion is there in the actors performances as to what *might* have happened, but the audience is never privy to those details.

Overall, this is a powerful movie. Great acting and direction come together to create a heady brew. Capote was an effemite and openly gay man, with a distinct and recognizable voice. Hoffman doesn't merely mimic him, he fully inhibits Capote and brings him to life in all of the late writers flamboyant glory. Of note, is also Catherine Keener, who plays Nell Harper Lee.

I've never read In Cold Blood, but I have read To Kill a Mockingbird. It therefore struck me as odd, at the beginning when Nell is running around acting as Capote's secretary and doing most of the dirty work. Granted, this is right before she became famous but it still seemed weird to me.

Overall, this is the type of film that will appeal to more mature viewers. Capote is smartly written, acted, and composed. Those that are willing to stick with a slow moving, yet very engaging movie, will find themselves rewarded.

Setting the Record Queer - Harry Hay and The Mattachine Society

If my father could be wrong, then the teacher could be wrong. And if the teacher could be wrong, then the priest could be wrong. And if the priest could be wrong, then maybe even God could be wrong. -Harry Hay

Radical Fairies and the Revolt of the Homosexual! Oh My!

The Mattachine Socity was the second major homophile group in the U.S. - the first group being the Chicago based Society for Human Rights. Harry Hay and Henry A. Wallace formed the Mattachine Society in 1950 - after first conceiving the idea two years earlier - for the purpose of advancing homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle and culture. The name, chosen in 1951, refers to the Société Mattachine from Medieval France, which consisted of masked travelers, who revealed and mocked the injustices perpetuated by the French Monarchs. The name is in reference to gays and lesbians being an invisible minority in the 1950's, thereby being masked from the mainstream.

Many of the founding Members of the Mattachine Society, including Hay, were members of the Communist Party and based the structure of their new organization upon it.

The Society reached it's peak in 1952 during the trial of Dale Jennings, who had been arrested and charged with "lewd behavior". The publicity the Mattachine Society was able to generate (under the name "Citizens to Outlaw Police Entrapment") gave the group a huge boost, drawing both volunteers and attention to it's cause.

The fall of the group came about as a result of the 1950's McCarthyism driven Red Scare. Accusations of communist ties drove conservative voices within the group to challenge it's communist roots, before ultimately taking control following the ouster and resignation of the founding members.

Once in the hands of the conservatives the group fell apart. Their goals were of accommodation for gays and lesbians, rather then advocating for social change. This change in outlook proved devastating to the Society, which entered into a period of extended decline before fading away altogether following the Stonewall Riots in 1969.

Harry Hay though, continued to be an advocate for social change and was certainly not afraid of embracing controversy. One of his greatest desire was for the formation of an organized queer culture, which was also arguably his greatest contribution (through the Mattachine Society) to the LGBTQA rights movements.

Philosophically, Hay was adamantly opposed to the assimilation of queer culture into the mainstream. To put it in his own words: "We pulled ugly green frog skin of heterosexual conformity over us, and that's how we got through school with a full set of teeth. We know how to live through their eyes. We can always play their games, but are we denying ourselves by doing this? If you're going to carry the skin of conformity over you, you are going to suppress the beautiful prince or princess within you."

In the 1980s' he protested the exclusion of NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association) from LGBTQA rights organizations, which at the time were making serious attempts to distance themselves from NAMBLA. In 1986, he attmepted to march in the Los Angelos gay pride parade, with a sign stating "NAMBLA Walks with me". He also opposed Act Up! (a direct action group for improving the lives of AIDS patients) believing the group was too aggressive and macho in it's tactics. His argument went that this discouraged divirsity by denying effiminate and soft men a place within Act Up!.

"The assimilation movement is driving us into the ground," Hay once remarked. Indeed. It can be noted that the change in the Mattachine Society where more emphasis was placed on assimilation, that caused it to die. While his support of NAMBLA and opposition to Act Up! certainly can be considered at the very least controversial, there is no denying his impact and influence on the queer rights movement.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattachine_Society
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/mattachine_society.html