this thread -- along with others --

[xchrom]

is why i believe it is past time that the lgbtq community builds a museum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=221x46329

the ignorance displayed in this thread -- mostly by other gay folk -- displays the need for a cultural and historical center that begins to unfold the breadth and depth of gay history -- not just in this country but around the world.

we -- for the most part -- are not born into gay culture -- we walk into it as adults -- individuals -- deprived of the stories and history that we would learn from parents and uncles and aunts and friends and neighbors.

we pick it up -- here and there -- from bars and discos -- newspapers and online zines -- but no thread of public continuity exists.

we don't even know about the struggle for the word gay -- about how we used it instead of homosexual because of the bigotry of freudian psychiatrists during the first part of the last century. thank god for jungians.

we need a place that tells the good, the bad, the ugly and the beatiful history of lgbtq people in all of human history.
from alexander to harvey milk -- from roy cohn to mark foley.

from da vinci to warhol.

throught ALL of human history we have been there -- often our gayness purposely erased.

oh we have some archives that exist notably in new york and dc and san francisco -- but no comprenhensive center -- with curators and archivists that continuously work to tell and record our remarkable lives.

and now it's time.

[William769]

1. I wouldn't call it ignorance.

Stupidity is a better word. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but some things need to be called what they are.

[bliss_eternal]

7. Well said,...

I agree. Ignorance by choice would seem to me to be 'stupidity.'

Plenty of people came along and said (in that thread)that they find that term, used in that context offensive. That should be enough to give some pause, make them think twice before defending their right to use such a term. But no. They just argue, on and on.

When I was new to DU I thought that if someone was a minority (gay, black, latino, a woman) there's no way they would slur or not be supportive of other minority groups. Have I ever received an education here.

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. Such museums already exist

I believe there are gay history museums in San Francisco and New York. Seattle's GLBT Community Center has been working on a local history project, with plans to create a permanent exhibit.

[xchrom]

3. there is no such museum

that encompases the scale of gay culture and history both in this country and around the world.

there are some ''extensive'' archives in new york and in seattle and other places -- but they are surprisingly limited compared to the breadth and depth of our history.

[Jamastiene]

4. I agree.

It would be nice to start some sort of thread with a timeline. Maybe people could post in the subject line the date, then tell some part of history and provide links in the message part of the posts.

[xchrom]

5. that would be a fabulous idea.

a new version of the quilt.

but we must have that Building -- that Place that tells and explains us to the world and our selves.

[baby_mouse]

6. Depressing isn't it?

But if any of it came to light...

[bliss_eternal]

8. xchrom--

that thread was beyond disgusting. :puke:

I recall that an out congressperson here wants to have gay culture taught in classrooms, (and put into history books, etc.) and she has vowed to work for that. Definitely a step in the right direction, as we've got to get more in the hetero community to see the ways they objectify, oppress and undermine the efforts for equality. It's really difficult when the world at large sees things in this big "us" vs. "them" vacuum--as opposed to seeing the glbt community at large as human beings, as we all are, seeking some respect and dignity from the world at large just like anyone else wants.

The divisive nature that heterosexual, right wing, white males (and even progressives of many ethnicities sadly)encourages this sense that only THEY have the right to say and/or dictate what is best for this group. Which of course is bullshit.

That same sense seems to carry over here, in a progressive community where too few actually "read" the comments when questions are posed, and few (if any) actually take in what is right there on the screen for all to see. Yes, someone said they find it offensive. Enough said. That's where is should end, but it doesn't does it? They seem stuck in the pattern of determining for others what is or is not appropriate.

Perhaps if from day one, people were teaching children that gay people aren't sinners, evil or any other ridiculous thing, but just humans just like anyone else, with a right to say for themselves what is or is not appropriate for them...(sigh) maybe then things could be different. I know what a huge leap that is for far too many...

eh...I'm babbling. I'll stop now. sorry.

A museum yes, it could help. I recall as a kid having a field trip to the Holocaust Museum. But there's so much more it seems that needs to be done to change these attitudes...so much...