Good lord, yellow brick road! Just like many Lesbigays, the NY Times ( 2/14 ) and the Chicago Tribune ( 2/16 ) are aghast that Elton John is making kissy-face comments about a possible duet with Marshall Mathers, AKA Eminem, at the Grammy Award ceremonies. One does wonder what the resulting musical hybrid child will be, what with Sir Elton's over-the-hill romantic dusty style and Eminiem's ummm ... vigorous, hip-hop/rap orientation. ( Not to mention of course content, where the hybrid between Elton's sweet tolerance and Mather's vicious homophobia would apparently be something along the lines of mild nastiness—sort of a Hannibal Lector who only eats peoples' miniature poodles ) . Has the "unlikely embrace" to quote the Trib been fueled by John's hanging with the Clintons a lot? Talk about a bad judgment call! In the Chicago Readers' City File ( 2/16 ) under the title "Being Gay—relevant but not a big deal?" family lawyer Chris Haaff says in the Illinois Bar Journal ( 1/10 ) that in adoption proceedings courts could ( and should ) ask about the petitioners' sexual orientation but if the sexuality has no adverse impact on the children and is in their best interest, the adoption should go ahead.
The New Yorker ( 2/19 & 26 ) has an essay that's a double whammy: Lost Horizon is both a preview of the new Tom Stoppard play The Invention of Love ( opening March 29 on Broadway ) and a sort of retrospective ( in hope of starting a revival of interest ) in the life and poetry of A. E. Houseman. The play, something of a magic realist fantasy on the life of Housman, centers on his apparently almost entirely imaginary love life. Housman's great love, a certain Moses Jackson at Oxford, "never knew or guessed the effect" he had on the poet. Since Cupid shot A.E. in the middle of the Oscar Wilde scandal, one can understand Houseman's caution, although Houseman roused himself enough on Oscar's behalf to write the famous poetic allegory "Oh They're taking him to prison for the color of his hair." The author of "A Shropshire Lad," his unrequited love for for Moses, or actually doing something long-term with a Venetian gondolier named Andrea: there is little direct evidence for either. What there is, is evidence for poetry that ought to be read again. One anecdote reported was the visit to Housman by the celebrated American lawyer, Clarence Darrow, who credited some of Housman's poetry for being instrumental when quoted by Darrow in trials for rescuing some of his clients from the electric chair, particularly Leopold and Loeb.
As long as we're on a classics roll here, we should report via The New York Times ( 1/21 ) that the "400-Year-Old-Bad-Boy" Christopher Marline is in the midst of a revival. The contemporary rival of Shakespeare was known for among other things his quote that "All they that love not tobacco and boys are fools." His six plays are considerably more violent than Shakespeare's, and his Edward II, about the homosexual English monarch who ended his days and ways by torture with a red-hot poker, has become something of a gay cultural icon. Various play revivals are underway on both sides of the Atlantic, and a move a la Shakespeare in Love is in the works.
The Chicago Tribune ( 2/11 ) has a major article on the problems of lesbigay relationships that cross national borders. There is currently no law allowing the foreign partner of a U.S. gay or lesbian to immigrate legally. Gay-rights activists have estimated 10,000 couples in the U.S. are affected. Other nations, notably Canada and most of Europe, are considerably more liberal on the issue. One problem for Congresspeople vis-a-vis this issue is that it is perceived as pro-gay marriage, a still-unpopular stand among voters at large.
Fred Hochberg, in The New York Times ( 2/10 ) wonders whether President Bush will keep in place the Clinton executive orders banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Hochberg was the administrator of the Small Business Administration, and says one of the greatest measures of the achievement of the previous administration was that gay officials had come to be colleagues of, not curiosities to, others in government.
Finally, all the major newspapers in the country heavily covered the mapping of the human genome by the two clashing/cooperating groups of scientists. One major finding was that there are far fewer human genes than thought, and that most of these apparently are multi-tasking. No one, to my knowledge, has opined that this means it is highly unlikely that a single gene for gayness will be found.
Jim's e-mail address: daunsenbere@prodigy.net
