(A4b4) lesbians

As of this date, 04-11-22, this folder contains 2 items. ******* item 1 LESBIAN BOOK REVIEW (CHOOSING LESBIAN LIFESTYLE) ******************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 1 LESBIAN BOOK REVIEW (CHOOSING LESBIAN LIFESTYLE) ******* From: "PFOX" ******* date Sun, 21 Dec 2003 22:57:15 +0000 ******* by Dr. Lillian Faderman ******* In 1992, the Gay and Lesbian Task Force of the American Library Association picked "Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers" by Dr. Lillian Faderman, as their non-fiction book of the year. This award is made for books �of exceptional merit relating to gay/lesbian experience.� (American Libraries. Sept. 1992, pgs. 704, 715; this is the official publication of the American Library Association). This book also won a prestigious, gay Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) in 1991. (The Advocate, 8-17-99, pg. 74. The Advocate is the leading gay news magazine, the gay equivalent of Time or Newsweek) Faderman is convinced that lesbianism, both in its causes and in its various manifestations, is created by social factors, rather than being of biological origin: ******* �As will be revealed in the pages of this book, in the debate between the �essentialists� (who believe that one is born a lesbian and there have always been lesbians in the past just as there are lesbians today) and the �social constructionist�� my own research has caused me to align myself on the side of the social constructionists.� (Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, pg. 8; NY: Penguin, 1991) ******* Especially in chapters eight and nine of this book, Dr. Faderman gives numerous examples of women who were completely heterosexual, but who actually chose to become lesbians. On page 207, Dr. Faderman gives one such example: ******* �As one radical feminist, who divorced her physician husband in 1974 to become a lesbian, characterized it, lesbianism was seen to be �the only noble choice a committed feminist could make.�� (Ibid., pg. 207) ******* Another noted lesbian, Rita Mae Brown (author of the best-selling lesbian book, "Rubyfruit Jungle" and a former lover of tennis pro Martina Navratilova) also declares her lesbianism as a choice: ******* �I became a lesbian because the culture that I live in is violently anti-woman. How could I, a woman, participate in a culture that denies my humanity? To give a man support and love before giving it to a sister is to support that culture, that power system. � (Ibid.,) ******* Dr. Faderman then makes the most telling point from her research: ******* In this respect, the 1970�s offer a prime example of sexuality as a social construct. It was demonstrated in that decade how the spirit of an era could influence sexual behavior in large numbers of people at least as much as those other factors that had long been regarded as determining sexuality.� (Ibid.) ******* Lesbians are made, not born, a lesbian singer at �womyn�s� festivals and music concerts recalls, �We know about ten women who were straight before they came to the concert� and became lesbians �about two weeks later. The concert just blew their minds.�(Ibid., pgs. 220f) ******* Other well-known gays are aware of Faderman�s research. Dr. Simon LeVay, a research scientist who has claimed that gay male brains are different from heterosexual male brains, notes Faderman�s views: ******* �Faderman believes that sexual orientation is a product of life experiences�in Odd Girls she takes the time to cite no less than eleven scientific studies that repudiate a physiological basis for homosexuality.� (City of Friends, by Simon LeVay and Elisabeth Nonas; Cambridge, MA; The MIT Press, 1995, pg. 193) ******* Faderman and PFLAG ******* In the February 6, 1996 issue of The Advocate, Dr. Faderman criticizes PFLAG (Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays) for their public �born gay� stance. PFLAG is made up mostly of parents of �gay� children. These parents are desperate to be told that they did not make parenting mistakes, which caused their children to become gay. (The Advocate, 2-6-96, pg. 72) ******* Dr. Faderman�s column elicited a surprising response from Sandra Gillis, at that time, Executive Director of PFLAG: ******* �If Lillian Faderman had ever bothered to read PFLAG�s latest publication, Why Ask Why: Addressing the Research on Homosexuality and Biology, before slamming PFLAG in her Latest column, she might have realized that we are echoing each other�s words, not �parting company.� ******* Despite Faderman�s claims, PFLAG has approached the biological research on homosexuality with reservation. We have outlined three primary concerns: We take the possibility of the abuse of scientific research seriously; we are concerned that some of the research oversimplifies our understanding of human sexuality and may tend to limit our understanding of the cultural and social factors that shape all human sexuality�� (The Advo-cate, 3-5-96, pg. 8) ******* If there are �cultural and social factors that shape all human sexuality,� then one is not born gay; various factors can cause changes in human sexuality (a fixed, �sexual orientation� is an incorrect term). ******* In another Advocate column (4-29-97, pg. 80), Dr. Faderman lists a number of prominent lesbians. Jill Johnston wrote the lesbian classic, Lesbian Nation. Holly Near is a lesbian folk singer. Jan Clausen founded a lesbian magazine. Susie Bright and JoAnn Loulan are authors of books on lesbian sexuality. But what else do they have in common? They have all spontaneously fallen in love with men! ******* Identity Politics ******* Dr. Lillian Faderman has �won the prestigious Monette/Horwitz Award from the Lambda Literary Foundation for her life contributions to gay and lesbian history.� ( The Advocate, 6-22-99, pg. 127). Note Faderman�s Analysis of the dishonest �identity politics� used by gay activists: ******* �And we continue to demand rights (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, domestic partnerships, the right to marry), ignoring the fact that human sexuality is fluid and flexible, acting as though we are all stuck in our category forever and thus we need to assure its livability. Is a movement even possible if we don�t operate under this fiction of the consistency and inevitability of identity? ******* ����������������������������� ******* The narrow categories of identity politics are obviously deceptive. They hide the complex, multifaceted nature of human beings. But the undeniable successes of identity politics have made life easier for many of us�That being so, how can we not feel dis-comfort or loss or annoyance when anything or anyone reminds us how simplistic and unstable the notion of identity truly is?�(Ibid.) ******* Faderman�s Fears ******* In an interview with the lesbian magazine, Lesbian News, Dr. Faderman lays out her point of view on fluid sexuality and its future implications: ******* �I must confess that I am both elated and terrified by the possibilities of �a bisexual moment.� I�m elated because I truly believe that bisexuality is the natural human condition. But I�m much less happy when I think of the possibility of huge numbers of homosexuals (two thirds of the women who identify as lesbian, for example) running off to explore the heterosexual side of their bisexual potential and, as a result, decimating our political ranks.� (The Advocate,9-5-95, pg. 43) ******* ��������������������������������� ******* "The concept of gay and lesbian identity may be nothing but a social construct, but it has been crucial, enabling us to become a political movement and demand the rights that are due to us as a minority. What becomes of our political movement if we openly acknowledge that sexuality is flexible and fluid, that gay and lesbian does not signify �a people� but rather a �sometime behavior�?�(Ibid.) ******* In other words, when the public learns the truth about the myth of �born gay,� then what will happen to �gay identity politics?� ******* To subscribe to this list, send a blank email to: [email protected] ********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 2 MAD MOM, SAD MOM - GAY MOM, FEY MOM ******* From: "Paul Fromm" ******* Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 ******* Dear Free Speech Supporter: ******* "Surrey mother Kim Forster was visibly shaken as she described the fear she experienced during Surrey schoolboard meetings last year when parents expressed outrage over homosexuality, comparing it to bestiality, pedophilia, rape and drug abuse. ... 'As the meeting went on, my level of fear increased. To be honest with you, later that night I was afraid to go to my car.' Forster and Carol Pegura, both lesbian parents in Surrey, were before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal yesterday to [demand $5,000 for 'the indigities they suffered' and to] argue the board failed to provide an atmosphere free from discrimination during June 2003 public meetings to discuss allowing three primary-level books depicting same-sex parents to be used in the schools. ... 'The school board created a process where a poisonous environment was created,' said the complainants' legal counsel Tim Timberg, adding the board displayed a 'lack of action to ensure a respectful environment for lesbian and gay parents that were there.' ... If the Tribunal, chaired by Tonie Beharell, decides the board failed to provide an atmosphere free from discrimination, other agencies could be held accountable for discriminatory statements members of the public make at their meetings." (Vancouver Province, November 16, 2004) ******* Writing in the November 19, 2004, National Post, Susan Martinuk identifies the ploy for what it is: "By attributing responsibility for individual remarks to meeting organizers, they likely enhance the potential for monetary rewards and the imposition of change on a broader base of society. ... Meeting organizers can't be held responsible for the public comments of all who choose to speak. So if these changes are granted, it won't be long before organizers determine that assessing public opinion simply isn't worth the hassle and the potential liability. Quite rightly, they will impose their decisions by fiat and the public will grow increasingly indifferent to public authorities as it is left without a means of influencing policy." ******* What the control freaks either don't know or don't care, is that freedom of speech evolved precisely because unbridled language is the manifest bulwark against violence. And as the Missies Forster and Pegura note -- sadly, without comprehension -- speech tends to become less, not more, temperate as efforts are made to suppress it. Outlawing public discourse will not lead to a gay and lesbian utopia, but directly to trouble as the dispossessed turn violently against the very cause that robbed them of this most fundamental right. ******* Just why and how it was decided that Canadians are essentially thugs, brushing the linoleum with fight-calloused knuckles is not known, but give us a little credit. Grow up and stop dictating how we must think. ******* Paul Fromm, Director, CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FREE EXPRESSION **********************************************************************************************************************

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The following warning is a prophetic message given to me, Frank Wagner, in November of 1974. ******* LISTEN TO THE CRY OF THE ABORTED CHILDREN. THEIR CRY IS NO. THEIR CRY IS A CRY OF TERROR. HEED THEIR CRY. ******* This prophecy is now being fulfilled. ******* For details about the source, meaning and fulfillment of this prophetic message go to ******* http://ca.geocities.com/fwagner4/index.html ******* email me at *** [email protected] ***