"Gays in Library Land" Gittings

Talk about a really exciting article! This was another winner in my opinion as far as what we have read in this class. I loved that we got to read an article by a gay person who could recount the founding of the gay rights wing of the ALA because she was part of it, and some parts of the article really tugged at my heart. This article made me reflect on the differences between the civil rights movement and the gay rights movement, but specifically that list of things that Peggy McIntosh cites as signals that one enjoys white privilege. What about heterosexual privilege? If I had not had the great luck to be a sibling of a gay person, there is not doubt that my family would have not only been oblivious to race but sexuality as well. There are so many references in popular culture to being heterosexual as the norm: several online dating sites still do not recognize the need for a same-sex wing of their business; so many “women’s” magazines have article after article about pleasing your man, without any concern that they’re only catering to the hetero crowd. I just get so sick and tired of it, and I’m straight! I can’t even begin to imagine how many times gay people have to confront hetero symbols and realize in their gut that those symbols don’t represent them, and don’t even try to do so. Most importantly, I cringe at the thought that even though my sibling and I share so many things in common, the same hair color, left-handedness, and quirky personality, I can at any time apply for a marriage license with my partner, but my sibling is barred from that right by people who hate everything that gay people are, and everything that being gay means. How far have we come in the fight for gay rights? Gittings puts a very positive face on the struggle, but sometimes I just feel like crying because of how far we have yet to go in fulfilling the words of the Declaration of Independence, that we are all created equal.