THE SILENT GAY MAJORITY

[COMMENT: This fellow may be wrong headed about his sexuality, but he has an honest streak that is refreshing. So the "gays" have a "silent majority" also! See links to his other articles at end. E. Fox]

Once upon a time, it was fun to be gay: There was an exciting intrigue to the oppositional (and even outlaw) character of gay and lesbian life. We were the trendsetters and tastemakers of society -- always at the forefront of creativity in art, music, fashion and literature.

But in the 1980s, we massacred our most promising by putting liberation ahead of health. And now, we are undermining what's left of gay culture with the stale, party-line rhetoric of oppression and exclusion. If Oscar Wilde were alive today, he would be exasperated with the whining tone that permeates modern gay activism.

Prime Minister Paul Martin and his Justice Minister, Irwin Cotler, are fast-tracking their proposed same-sex marriage legislation for enactment in June, 2005 -- exquisitely timed to coincide with our annual bacchanalia of promiscuity, Gay Pride Day. The Liberals' disregard for public debate is not only angering Catholic bishops and other conservative-minded gay-marriage opponents, it also ignores the silent majority of gay men and women who have little interest in marriage.

Unless you're gay, you can't fathom how embarrassing and frustrating it is to constantly witness your public image being represented by the same tiresome clique of activist martyrs and malcontents. It makes us look so helpless and it makes me want to run back into the closet.

In 1967, Pierre Trudeau supposedly liberated us when he said: "The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation." Now, however, a squad of legal radicals goes from courtroom to courtroom with meticulous synchronization, demanding that the state get right back into the bedroom.

Most Canadians believe we should be able to pursue any brand of consensual sex we like, and form whatever relationships make us happy. And, by equal measure, most secure gays and lesbians have no problem conceding that heterosexuality is and always will be the human norm. This is a perfectly civilized social contract. I strongly reject the activist mantra that we must go further -- that our dignity and our relationships are somehow devalued unless the state codifies same-sex marriage.

In its affidavit to support same-sex marriage, EGALE, a leading Canadian gay and lesbian activist organization, contends that we will forever remain marginalized and stigmatized unless gay marriage becomes law. Nonsense. For most outwardly gay men, the essence of public life is, and will always be, party, pageant and parade. Despite the impression you get from the media, marriage barely shows up on our community's radar screen. Same-sex nuptials are media events, not gay events. Most cool gays and lesbians just roll their eyes and pray for a power failure.

I've heard the claim made that allowing us to wed will moderate the libidinal excesses that dominate so many gay men's lives. That's an odd argument to put forward in this political climate: Just let some municipal politician or police official try interfering with our bathhouse sex habits, then listen to the sonic cries of "homophobia" reverberate across the land.

In other words, the activist Rainbow crowd wants to have its cake and eat it too: Its members want to keep their late-night lifestyle, but also own the traditional institution of marriage.

Why? Perhaps the world's most quotable lesbian, Camille Paglia, offers the best explanation with her scrumptiously succinct statement: "If you don't swing with the Sodomites, you're nowheresville on the A-list." Thus are legions of straight academics, politicians and activists eager to jump on the fashionable gay-marriage bandwagon.

If only those wanna-be straights knew how most of us felt. As for me, I'll be cleaning out my closet.

[COMMENT: Camille Paglia is a very vocal lesbian who, like McKeller, sees through much of the homosexual nonsense. See two other articles by John McKeller (1) (2)]