The Gay & Lesbian Review

8 / 52

8 The Gay & Lesbian Review / WORLDWIDE
Sweatin’ with Cong. Schock When Barney Frank came out as
gay in his forties, he was relieved to discover that his constituents
really didn’t care about the sex life of a middle-aged man, and the
world moved on. The same cannot be said for a colleague of
Frank’s in the U.S. House, the still serving Aaron Schock, an Illi-
nois Republican who’s attracted lots of attention, not for coming
out as gay, but for not doing so, persistent rumors notwithstand-
ing. Also, if the shallow truth be told, for the fact that this is what
he looks like at poolside:
But he also looks great in
pressed plaid shirts or even
in sweats, which he wears
during (well-documented)
workouts. Then, too, there
was that shirtless photo on
the cover of Men’s Health.
Against this backdrop, it
turns out that Schock has one of the worst records on gay rights in
Congress, so he’s been deemed fair game for “outing” by some
journalists. And, inevitably, his denials have become the stuff of
comedy. A twitter feed has opened up under @GayRepSchock
called “I’m not gay, I’m FABULOUS.” A send-up at bentspud.com
was titled, “Aaron Schock denies gay rumors, reveals engagement
to Liza Minnelli.” Next thing you know, he’ll be launching a male-
oriented fitness program and appearing shirtless to demonstrate
its benefits! Oh, wait, he’s already doing that.
The End Is Near It takes a lot for the Family Research Council
to get our attention these days, and they must know this, because
their president, Tony Perkins, keeps escalating the level of hyste-
ria. Recently he prophesied the end of humanity if homosexuality
comes to be widely accepted. “The human race would be extinct
within time if [homosexuality were] normal ... if it were not for
physical relationship, intimacy between a man and a woman.”
Sure, the link between heterosexuality and procreation is pretty
well-established, but is Perkins seriously suggesting that it’s only
the taboo against homosexuality that has kept procreation afloat
through all these centuries, that without it people would naturally
gravitate to their own sex—exclusively!—thereby ending the
human race? There must be something missing here—and it is
Satan. Once society lowers its guard and gives the temptation of
Sodom free rein, argues Perkins, everyone will be fair game, and
it’s only a matter of time before the Prince of Darkness turns
everyone gay. Here one has to be a bit surprised that heterosexu-
ality can’t mount a stronger defense. Finally, one wonders: is this
a policy statement on Perkins’ part, or is it a cri de coeur?
The End Is Near 2 “Conservative Protestants Destroy Traditional
Marriage,” blared a blog headline about a study on the well-es-
tablished fact that evangelical Protestants have higher divorce
rates on average than the general population. The study, published
in the respected American Journal of Sociology, offered a county-
by-county analysis of divorce rates across the U.S.A. and found
that, not only do evangelical Protestants have persistently higher
COLUMB I A UN I VERS I TY PRESS
·
Are the Lips a Grave?
A Queer Feminist on the Ethics of Sex
LYNNE HUFFER
“Against the persistent rumor that feminism and queer
theory can never be friends, Lynne Huffer recovers a
wide—and at times wild—range of shared political and
critical lineages. Provocative, impassioned, and at times
deeply personal, Are the Lips a Grave? is the first full-
length defense of ‘queer feminism.’ It is about time!”
—Robyn Wiegman, Duke University
COMING IN
SPRING 2014
The Homoerotics
of Orientalism
JOSEPH ALLEN
BOONE
BTW