. . . philosophy, classics, art, movies, literature, writing fiction and screenplays, links to my photography — and also logic, artificial intelligence, mathematics, biostatistics, medical research . . . in other words, both halves of my brain: thinking in pictures and thinking in words . . .
On the national annual Day of Silence, students observe a vow of silence to bring attention to bullying and harassment of LGBT students. This year’s Day of Silence — 25 April, 2008 — will be dedicated to the memory of Lawrence King.
We need to be aware that the concepts “homosexual” and “sexual orientation” are modern, and perhaps Western.
I don’t feel that recognizing this has anything to do with essentialism versus social construction. One is not arguing the fact that people throughout history have been attracted to their own sex or the fact that this is not a conscious choice for them, but at least feels inborn. Instead it has to to with the linguistic and cultural concepts that different cultures offer, the patterns of behavior that can be referred to simply in a word or two, without complicated, esoteric explanations.
The Greeks and the Romans had different concepts for it than we do, and anyone “homosexual” in the modern sense must have had a difficult time explaining themselves — even to themselves. Read the rest of this entry »
Kai Wright, Drifting Toward Love: Black, Brown, Gay,
and Coming of Age on the Streets of New York
Beacon Press, Boston, 2008
ISBN 978-0-8070-7968-3
This is an important book.
Why would I — a dead, white male, a baby boomer — say that about a book from a culture so totally different?
Because when I was a teenager, growing up gay in a white slum in Buffalo, the Stonewall Riots were some 10 years off in the future and inaccessible to me — and, anyway, they were unthinkable. I drifted, lost, making bad choices and acting destructively — of myself and of others.
Kai Wright writes about black and brown kids today in Brooklyn. You might think they’d have a big advantage — with one of the most vibrant, openly gay cultures in the world right next to them in Manhattan, only a subway ride away. But in their social reality, the white, liberated gay culture might as well be on the other side of the world for all the good it would do them in terms of providing scenarios they can choose from. It’s as inaccessible to them now, for a different reason, as it was to me then. Read the rest of this entry »
I have no comment on this. There’s no way I could improve it. It says just what needs to be said — succinctly. precisely.
I am preparing other posts about being gay, including analyses of recent scientific work whose authors have shared copies of their published articles. But, right now, I’d like to help publicize Al Gore’s statement without pretending I can add to its exactness.
. . . Actually, though, I do have one comment about Al Gore. It’s what I’ve thought for years, and even far more so since the Nobel Prize. There’s been a link to algore.com in my sidebar all along. I mean, I have to support one of the few politicians who’s in contact with reality — and, in his case, on many issues. But now, Gore’s statement on gays makes my sense of conviction about him as complete as my sense of loss: “Why isn’t this man our president?” Read the rest of this entry »
Untitled, 2007, Courtesy of Lucky Michaels (click picture to enlarge)
The picture above was taken by Lucky Michaels, a photographer and also a counselor at Sylvia’s Place, located within the Metropolitan Community Church of New York. The shelter (named after Queer rights activist Sylvia Rivera) is a temporary safe haven for homeless LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer) youth.
I find this picture pretty startling — rich in inexplicable, incongruous juxtapositions. It shows a homeless young man, at home — for the time being — apparently in bed.
Where is it that he’s at home? In a public, sterile space where nobody could be at home but people are trying. Judging from his expression, he lives there. I won’t mention the impossible, necessary, Christmas tree in the background. Read the rest of this entry »
Plato’s Phaedo is one of the hardest dialogues for me to understand. The way some commentators present it seems uncompromisingly, patronizingly self-righteous. Yet, I think there are more humanistic ways to understand it. Read the rest of this entry »
America I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing.
America two dollars and twentyseven cents January 17, 1956.
I can’t stand my own mind. Read the rest of this entry »
Robert Snyder made two inspiring documentaries about Michelangelo—and films about others including Buckminster Fuller, Claudio Arrau and Willem de Kooning.
If you'd like to know more about me, please see the About page. My qualifications for the scientific entries are in my CV. I see no reason to segregate scientific and technical posts from humanistic ones. In my life, scientific concerns mix with ethical ones, and they shade into a philosophical interest in the nature of cognition and the nature of people. Doing science is as creative as writing fiction, and I get inspiration for both from the same gods. You will find little here on current politics. I'm activist, but in causes not symptoms. Experience in martial arts shows me that the sure way to lose is reactivity; but if you stay cool and remember your training and what you're there for then you achieve goals and, when conflict is unavoidable, you fight and win. The idea of the liberal arts I was brought up in is that broad understanding of cultures and ideas gives you deeper, better goals -- making success more likely and more satisfying. Negatively, the hysteria since 9/11 shows how a country frightened and reactive can destroy itself more than an enemy can. I'm trying to contribute by changing the terms of discourse. See Hyperforum and Thoukydides. . . . As Allen Ginsberg wrote, "America, I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel." One fact shouldn't require special mention; but -- given the nature of the society in which I've grown up and lived -- it often does: namely that I'm gay. You'll see it in some posts and in some links below. I'm proud of being gay and do not hide; more about this on the About page. Gayness is one topic among many here that interest me. The proportion of gay subject matter is shown in the "Table of Contents." Posts on gay subjects are similar to the others and reflect an aspect of my life and world.
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We need to be aware that the concepts “homosexual” and “sexual orientation” are modern, and perhaps Western.
Book Review
Robert Snyder made two inspiring documentaries about Michelangelo—and films about others including Buckminster Fuller, Claudio Arrau and Willem de Kooning.
I see no reason to segregate scientific and technical posts from humanistic ones. In my life, scientific concerns mix with ethical ones, and they shade into a philosophical interest in the nature of cognition and the nature of people. Doing science is as creative as writing fiction, and I get inspiration for both from the same gods.
You will find little here on current politics. I'm activist, but in causes not symptoms. Experience in martial arts shows me that the sure way to lose is reactivity; but if you stay cool and remember your training and what you're there for then you achieve goals and, when conflict is unavoidable, you fight and win. The idea of the liberal arts I was brought up in is that broad understanding of cultures and ideas gives you deeper, better goals -- making success more likely and more satisfying. Negatively, the hysteria since 9/11 shows how a country frightened and reactive can destroy itself more than an enemy can. I'm trying to contribute by changing the terms of discourse. See 
One fact shouldn't require special mention; but -- given the nature of the society in which I've grown up and lived -- it often does: namely that I'm gay. You'll see it in some posts and in some links below. I'm proud of being gay and do not hide; more about this on the 
