Updated, below.
Not very long ago, a bit of audio tape emerged in which Marcus Bachmann, husband of Presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann, likened gays and lesbians (and, one presumes, the entire LGBTQ community) to “barbarians”:
We have to understand: barbarians need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. Just because someone feels it or thinks it, doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road. That’s what is called the sinful nature.
Given the virulence of the hatred in those remarks, not to mention the fact that Mr. Bachmann appears to have been involved with/aggressively pushed the so-called “reparative therapy” designed as a “cure” for homosexuality, much was subsequently made of the fact that Mr. Bachmann’s voice sounds not dissimilar to that of the standard-issue stereotypical “gay man” — a bit foppy, a bit high-pitched, the hint of a lisp. Much was also made of the fact that he dances in a mildly flamboyant fashion. The idea underlying all of this japery was and is, of course: OMG it’s so funny, he hates gay people but dude is soooooo gay!!1!
Here’s the problem with that:
I have no idea how quantitatively true it is that gay men sound “gay,” as a rule. Like most people like me, I have what I think of as gaydar, and it is of course set off by men who evidence such things as a lisp, a predilection for pastels, or a greater-than-average interest in musical theater.
For all I know, these things are, in fact, a genetic component of “being gay,” and like any other genetic thing, they run in greater and lesser degrees through the blood of a majority of gay men — just as having a certain physical build is often identifiable as Scandinavian, or a tendency to bald young is associated with Jewish men. Whatevs. I don’t actually care, in any real, meaningful sense. If the LGBTQ community wants to make jokes about the stereotype — or even about Marcus Bachmann — more power to them. We all get to joke about our own. It’s part of how we maintain sanity/autonomy.
However, when society at large starts to giggle at a man’s lisp, or limp-wristed dance moves, even if it’s in an effort to point out possible hypocrisy — even if it’s in an effort to point out pernicious, dangerous hypocrisy in a politically powerful figure — we are not helping to solve the problem. We are, in fact, perpetuating it.
If Bachmann’s slight lisp is funny — why isn’t it funny when some other man lisps? If Bachmann’s failure to maintain stereotypical manly mannerisms is funny — why isn’t it funny when boys play with Barbies or men arrange flowers? When we laugh at these things in Bachmann, we’re saying, loud and clear, that they are laughable. (We’re also, by the way, saying that they can only mean one thing: gay. Not bi-. Not non-normative. Not straight-guy-with-a-lisp. No — these mannerisms mean one thing and one thing only. And we decide what that is). If I were a gay man who had been beaten up for my “girly” behavior — would I be enjoying the jokes made by straight people at Bachmann’s expense? Maybe. Maybe it would feel like payback. But maybe it would also re-confirm what the bullies had been screaming at me all along. (We’ll leave aside, for the moment, the misogyny inherent to finding feminine behavior laughable. But trust, dear reader: There’s misogyny here, too).
So are Bachmann’s mannerisms indication that he’s gay? Hell if I know. And I’m not going to join in on the comedy.
But there is one thing that suggests to me, very powerfully, that Bachmann is, in fact, a closeted member of the LGBTQ community: the very virulence of his hatred (and that of his wife) for the community.
Time and time again, we have seen anti-gay crusaders revealed to have active same-sex sex lives. Whether they are gay, bi-, or something else all together doesn’t really matter — what matters is that they spend their on-camera time demonizing human beings who have same-sex sex, and their off-camera time having same-sex sex. The hypocrisy is horrible, but when coupled with the very real danger that these people pose to the lives of actual human beings the hypocrisy moves from “horrible” to “loathsome and unforgiveable.”
Ted Haggard, former head of the National Association of Evangelicals; Larry Craig, former Republican senator; Bob Allen, former Republican state senator (Florida); Glenn Murphy, Jr., former president of the Young Republican National Federation; George Rekers, psychologist and founding member of the Family Research Council; Eddie Long, influential Atlanta pastor; James McGreevy, former Democratic governor of New Jersey; Roy Ashburn, former Republican state senator (California); Richard Curtius, former Republican state senator (Washington) — the list, frankly, goes on and on. All of these men actively engaged in ruining the lives of their fellow American citizens, all while quietly engaging in the very activity they declared reprehensible.
And then there’s this: Homophobic Men Most Aroused by Gay Male Porn.
So is Marcus Bachmann gay? I don’t know.
But the bitter contempt that he and his wife express toward people who have the temerity to not lead heteronormative lives (not to mention, frankly, the close knowledge of the need for “education” and “discipline”) sounds very, very familiar — and it carries the stench of hypocrisy.
The kind of hypocrisy that shatters lives — not least, and not incidentally, the lives of those peddling the lies in order to cover their own shame.
You can’t pray away the gay — but you can torture a conflicted closet case to death.
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7/19/11 update: Please also read the follow-up that I posted this morning.
Crossposted at Emily L. Hauser In My Head.
Well said. It’s an uncomfortable area.
Bottom line is this: all the men I know who spend a great deal of time thinking about homosexuality are homosexuals.
Boom – there it is.
I think of it this way. MB is definitely a queen. But there are a lot of queeny straight men. There are also an awful lot of queeny gay men.
The only reason I care if he’s a closet case is because of his practices and his policies, and Michele B is one of those “submit to your husband types”. That does make it our business. But beyond that, it’s theirs.
I do tire of the recent spate of straight people gay-baiting his mannerisms. It puts me (and conscious people like Emily) in the awkward spot of having to defend him, to some degree, just as we do our friends we know are gay and get trashed for exactly the same thing. I just wish more people would educate themselves about homosexuality in general, including our peers and allies.
ee, excellent points–all of them. I have mixed feelings about all the snickering done at Marcus Bachmann’s so-called effeminate affect as well, but I do agree with Allan that the most virulent anti-gay zealots, the ones who seemed obsessed with LGBT folk are usually gay/bi themselves.
First off, why do you keep putting a dash after bi? That’s not correct grammar. And as a bisexual, I find it a bit off-putting when someone misspells my identity.
Second, hypothesizing about Marcus Bachmann being gay instead of bisexual when he’s clearly had sex at least five times with Michele and identifies as straight is what we call bi erasure. AsiangrrlMN is better about it than you were in the essay, bless her for that. Refusing to allow for the possibility that Bachmann is bisexual is just not right under the circumstances. Closeted bisexuals can be just as hypocritical as closeted gays.
And finally, since I’m doing a Queer Reality 101 comment, the insults aimed at effeminate men are more accurately called transphobia, not misogyny. But then, most homo/biphobia is transmisogyny/transphobia. The whole mishegoss, misogyny included, boils down to “how dare you not possess the Idealized Hetero Peen or act in a way that honors His desires,” really, but that’s a long essay for another space.
I’m sorry you feel that way – I hope you did notice that part of my frustration with this whole story is that “We’re also, by the way, saying that they can only mean one thing: gay. Not bi-. Not non-normative. Not straight-guy-with-a-lisp. No — these mannerisms mean one thing and one thing only. And we decide what that is.” and “Time and time again, we have seen anti-gay crusaders revealed to have active same-sex sex lives. Whether they are gay, bi-, or something else all together doesn’t really matter.” I will drop the hyphen in future writing — I was unaware that it was a mistake. In a lifetime of professional writing, I have proven myself time and again to be in desperate need of a copy editor.
And when I wrote “misogyny” I meant “hatred of women,” so I was using the word exactly as I intended to use it.
My concern is less with Mr. Michele and his sexual preference; my concern isn’t even quite so much on his hypocrisy if he is gay. My concern is how the Bachmann campaign will handle this should the issue continue to hang around if not grow. Taibbi makes the point that Bachmann makes herself into a great victim. And we know they’ll have no hesitation in shading the truth. Frankly, absent some more proof than his affectations I’m steering clear.
Well-written, succinct and poignant,
I am a dual Bermudian/American citizen living in Bermuda, and have been following this excellent blog for about a year now (I know I know, I’m a lurker…I just typically feel that all that needs to be said usually is said in the posts). Wanted to just start out by saying how much I appreciate the ability of each ABL blogger to logically frame important stories and pepper them with just the right amount of snark to keep me from ending it all due to the regressive direction in which the country is heading!
The posts about homosexuality are particularly intriguing to me, as the utter hypocrisy of Republicans regarding the issue continues to both disgust and fascinate me (in that order). As this hallucinogenic excuse for an election campaign continues, this type of poison will likely only get worse, which is cripplingly sad. For the sake of comparison, I wanted to share with you guys the plight of homosexuals in Bermuda, and how our Government regards them.
As a country (technically a commonwealth), Bermuda is a dangerous place to be openly homosexual. This is unfortunately the case with many Caribbean nations, and as usual, religious pressure plays a huge part in it. I also believe that it is partially reinforced by a culture of modern reggae music which is violent, homophobic, misogynist, and would make Bob Marley turn in his grave.
Recently, a young woman was kicked out of the guest house where she was staying because the proprietor discovered that she had another woman staying with her. This led to an admirable, yet poorly-attended rally at Parliament: http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20110719/ISLAND/707199989
In Bermuda, it is currently LEGAL to discriminate against someone based on their sexuality. Mentioned briefly in the posted article, there was an initiative started in 2007 called “Two Words and a Comma”, indicating that change would be as simple as adding the term “Sexual Discrimination,” to our Human Rights Act. So far, this dream has not been fulfilled.
Though not gay myself, I have several close friends who are, and they live in fear every day. The awkward part is, though, I also have many close friends who are openly homophobic. While speaking to one of them a few weeks ago, I asked him what was so wrong about homosexuality (I try not to bring it up too much due to my dislike of tumors), and he referred to it as “disgraceful”. When I inquired what he meant by that, he gave me a muddled, confusing answer which was not even remotely rooted in logic (he’s not even religious!) That made me realize that SOME PEOPLE DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY THEY HATE GAYS! It’s just a mainstream Bermudian view which is latched onto by the majority so that they don’t have to critically analyze a complex issue that makes them uncomfortable!
So as you can see, there are many unfortunate similarities between Bermuda and the United States. Jack-wagons like Marcus Bachmann and his lunatic wife represent the worst of humanity, and the only weapon we have to fight them with is genuine compassion, and of course, the TRUTH!
Keep doing what you’re doing, guys…sorry if my comment was somewhat rambling!
Was Jim McGreevy an anti-gay crusader before he came out? Or just someone who was closeted because of religious beliefs and/or to further his political career, but never actively speaking or legislating against the LGBT community? Does anyone know?
It’s a little bit of a stretch to include McGreevey in a list of anti-gay “crusaders,” it’s true. He argued against gay marriage, but signed a bill the recognized same-sex domestic partnerships. It would be a little bit like calling Obama “anti-gay” at this point — he hasn’t done everything I think he should in support of gay rights, but he’s hardly been a Marcus Bachmann on the issue.