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I don't disagree with any of that. That I call myself "gay" (as expedient) and insist that we (those who choose it) are part of the gay community, regardless of whether they accept us or not, is not because I like what's become of that community but despite it and because we have a place in that gay history, albeit one now denied us. They are same-sex attracted and we are same-sex attracted and, as you say, the history we share ARE those ancient pederastic couplings. The work of those scholars is, indeed, extremely valuable and provides a linkage not only to us but to what is now called "gay," such as it is, and lays their contradictions bare. That's a good thing! I'm all for that! Please keep doing that! That's a historical basis for commonality that has nothing to do with whether they, as triumphant victors, get to tell us who we are and how we can identify. Since when has that ever been an imperative of self-respect and defiance, to shamefully and voluntarily relinquish our place in history and culture? That's the most inchoate and pathetic thing - it's not even an argument - I've ever heard. One could just as easily make the same case for modern Greece where there has been little or no overt societal support for pederasty in a very long time. Does that mean that a pederastic classicist has to abandon all claims to that historical period? No, of course not! That's a silly argument! |