No, I'm asking. I've noticed this trend among my gay (mostly male) friends: they are crazy for Hillary. I wondered what the deal might be with that, but since so many of the gay men I know are feminists, I chalked it up to that. Don't they remember the mockery of "don't ask, don't tell" or the Defense of Marriage Act? Not that Hillary is Bill, but she is running partially on his record and popularity.
Even many feminists are shying from Hillary. It's an issue that has feminists riled up, the chance to vote a woman into the presidency and why so many of us are ambivalent about that. My favorite is Jessica Parenti, who writes the Feministing blog. She said in a recent The Nation article, "Let's use this moment, when our politics and emotions are raw, to push for a better, more forward-looking feminism." I don't get the impression from reading her many postings that she will be voting for Clinton.
Anyway, this weekend I was in Des Moines visiting my "other brother" and he had me watch this episode of Bill Maher's show Real Time, in which sex columnist Dan Savage explains that it's the Diva thing. I hadn't thought of that. Nor wanted to be so sexist as to characterize it that way.
After going to an Obama rally, Savage says he's now a little gay for Obama.
On Sunday night we saw John Doe and Wilco at this very groovey venue in Des Moines called the Val Air Ballroom, which reminded me of a Texas honkey tonk. It's an old concert hall with a huge wooden dancefloor and raised seating and bar area adjacent to that. Free parking. Tickets were thirty bucks a piece. I spent more than that on drinks. The cool kids were in attendance, 30-somethings with thick, tousled hair, some even with small children in tow. They were there for Wilco, of course, and they knew all the lyrics. It was a great night.
No comments:
Post a Comment