In one of my classes a few weeks ago, the professor was lecturing on First Amendment rights and cited a controversial Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition as an example. Mapplethorpe, a photographer, is best known for photographs featuring homoerotic sadomasochism that were used in a museum exhibit in Cincinnati in the early 1990s. The museum director was prosecuted for pandering obscenity and lost his case; the conflict became a landmark First Amendment case.
Then someone asked what became of Mapplethorpe.
“Mapplethorpe actually died of AIDS,” the professor said.
And the class burst into giggles.
If the professor had described a young woman in Africa dying of AIDS, a respectful silence would have followed. But for a gay man who died of a disease typically associated with homosexuals, the classroom giggled. Why?
The incident in class was small, but not insignificant. It seems indicative of the way people often approach homosexuality: with unease, disgust and misguided notions about sexuality and gender. That discomfort has manifested itself in occurrences like the one I’ve described and the truly obnoxious addition of terms describing sexual orientation to our lexicon of dirty words, i.e. calling something or someone “gay” when one means to say “lame.”
I’ll begrudgingly set aside that AIDS is a horrible disease that has killed and is killing millions of people the world over. This isn’t important to this column because, though AIDS is a sensitive topic, it is a subject open to discussion and ridicule just like anything else.
What I will discuss is that prejudice against homosexuality seems to be the last acceptable intolerance in America. At present, federal law prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of race, gender, national origin, and disability; discrimination against gays remains legal. Currently, shouting “fag” (read: homo, queer, dyke) in a crowded bar has little or no impact, while any racial slur will silence a room and likely lead to confrontation.
The lecture that day was about the importance of free speech. Let me emphasize: I support your right to say whatever hurtful or hateful thing you please, but I won’t applaud anyone for insulting a group of people by misusing a word. It’s a kind of passive homophobia that I find almost more troubling than intentional blasts against the gay community. I would actually prefer that a hatemonger wave Leviticus in my face and call me a dyke than hear one more person engage in passive, cowardly homophobia by using “gay” as a playground insult.
It is careless, sloppy use of language to use words describing sexual orientation as pejorative terms. Translation: it makes you look crass and simple. So next time you want to goad a friend, consult a thesaurus. And the next time you react with discomfort at sexuality, take a moment to examine your perception. It’s never too late to expand your vocabulary or your mind.
Maggie Calmes is a mass communication senior and can be reached at [email protected].
