In a special science section, 'Desire,' the New York Times ( 4/10 ) comes right out and says it: 'Desire between the sexes is not a matter of choice. Straight men ... have neural circuits that prompt them to seek out women; gay men have those prompting them to seek other men.' Further ramifications: In both straight and lesbian women ' ...sexual arousal seems to be relatively indiscriminate—they get aroused by both male and female images ... But they have sexual preferences.' In addition, 'sexual orientation, at least for men, seems to be settled before birth.'
The New York Times ( 4/8 ) shows pictures and lists names at an event: Ms. Summer Fall Winter Spring, Ms. Demi Tasse, Ms. Gefil Tefish, Ms. Verna Turbulence, Ms. Lala San Diego, Ms. Vi Los Angeles, and Ms. Dirty Martini. Can we guess it is the Imperial Court of New York at its Night of a Thousand Gowns? The drag event raised money for PFLAG ( Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays ) .
R.I.P. Elizabeth Jolley, the 'Australian Gothic' writer, passed away at age 83. The New York Times ( 4/11 ) says the quirky author of Mr. Scobie's Riddle, Miss Peabody's Inheritance and The Sugar Mother was known from her first novel, Palomino, on for the theme of romantic love between women.
From the Girls-Gone-Wild-for-Girls file, the New York Times ( 4/1 ) reports on the Dinah Shore Weekend a.k.a. Lesbian Spring Break. Held in Palm Springs, Calif., it was the low-key venue of polo-shirted women in the years B.E. ( Before Ellen ) . Now, it's dozens of twosomes and threesomes of women in bars singing 'Girls! Girls! Girls!' in the years A.L. ( After 'The L Word' ) . The week is promoted as the world's largest lesbian party and locals, mid-westerners and foreigners are flocking to it. Many participants wear name tags with color-coded dots: green=available, yellow=approachable and red=don't even try—though some wore rainbows of dots.
National Review ( 4/16 ) , the conservative rag, is getting wrought up over gays in the military again, especially since some conservatives themselves have been saying, 'What's the big deal over gays?' ( Examples include David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense; Sen. Ron Wyden and retired Gen. John Shalikashvili. ) The magazine basically repeats all the old arguments against gays and agrees with them, although it pushes its own agenda in saying the ancient Greek concept of philia—comradeship ( among soldiers ) —countermands the Greek concept of eros—romantic and sexual love. The Greeks ( tho' you probably couldn't tell by watching 300 ) definitely believed their troops' eros for each other backed up and reinforced their philia for one another.
The New York Times ( 4/5 ) gives a B- to The Matthew Passion, a new musical that links Christ's passion to hate-crime victim Matthew Shepard. The Times says it's a brave attempt at spirituality but that the play ' ... is not quite sure whether it wants to be camp or an Easter pageant.'