My Tribe really pisses me off in another way. On another site, there was an article about "middle-aged men" being arrested by policemen in one of those narrow-minded states - New York City, in this case - and charged with prostitution. Apparently, a good-looking young (plain-clothes) policeman comes on to men in adult bookstores and eventually offers to pay for having sex with the victim. The victim is then charged with prostitution whether or not he agrees to accept the money offered. Leaving aside the considerations of false arrest, entrapment and homophobic police bullshit for the moment, the description "middle-aged" gets interpreted in the public comments as " old men" who are "so grateful to be picked-up by good-looking younger men" that they are flattered into total imbecility and are "probably thrilled" to accept money for sex. Everyone knows that gay desirability ends at 22, but the comments on this story ignore the entrapment and homophobia angles and concentrate on deriding anyone older than 30. Come on, boys, get real. When you turn 30, I sincerely hope that you have the good manners to off yourselves so that up-coming generations won't have to be embarrassed by you drooling on real gays.
Which leads to the broader issue of age discrimination in general, and the issues that face Tribe members as we age. Such as our partners being denied visiting rights when ill enough to be hospitalised, among a lot of other issues. There are groups attempting to address these issues, of whom very few of you have heard, I'm sure. A gay actor by the name of Robert Gant (the US version of 'Queer as Folk'; http://robertgant.com/bethechange/ ) has been actively supporting the work of two of them: SAGE (http://www.sageusa.org/index.cfm) and GLEH (http://www.gleh.org/). Read up, get involved: your turn is coming, one day, you, too, will be over 30.
FROM CITY TO FARM or I'VE GOT THE COCK, NOW WHAT .... Ramblings political, humourous, opinionated and/or creative writing from a man in flux
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About Me
- Rikk Utas
- recently retired to southern Mexico from Canada
So, do you consider yourself to be middle aged, or old? Chronologically I think we are pushing old, but I certainly don't feel middle aged in my mental attitude. My body of course is ancient ;)
ReplyDeleteNot being as in touch as you are, it seems though that things are slowly evening out for rights for your Tribe. I know that it shouldn't be an issue, but great strides are being made in some places.
I'm still 16, what are you talking about? I think old age is governmentally defined as 65, so I'm probably still middle-aged. And yes, things are getting better in some places in a lot of ways for gay people, but there's still a really long way to go in most of the world, including the US
ReplyDeleteIsn't middle age somewhere between the age you are now and death? :)
ReplyDeleteAnd it does seem as though gay rights are slowly gaining ground. Sometimes very slowly....