In an excess of purported equality, some Hollywood actresses  want to be called “actors.” How sad and self-defeating. Doesn't  opting for the male-designated noun, actor, imply superiority of  that male form? If not, why not seek equality by extending the  female form — actress — to actors; e.g., “Actress Tom Cruise”. That  would assert the prominence of the female-designated noun. (I  imagine Sarah Bernhardt and Virginia Fabrigas, great legendary  actresses, stiffening their proud backs in resistance like  affronted queens — not kings.)
    Shall we now refer to female princes? Female kings? Male  seamstresses? The Spanish, French, Italian languages award gender  even to sexless objects. The sturdy rock is “la roca”, the  flickering earring is “el arete”. No sexism there. Now note this  spectacular assault on sexism: The male organ in Spanish, “la  verga”, is honored with a feminine designation, whereas breasts  become “pechos”, a masculine identification.
    Although I use it now, I am still not at ease with “gay”.  Christopher Isherwood once said that the pluralized “gays” sounded  like a reference to bliss-ninnies. But now comes the odious word  “queer”, eagerly seized by dippy academics and converted into yet  another undecipherable “theory”. The rationale? Defuse the word  “queer” of its ugly meaning, arrogate it and convert it. Oh? How  about proposing “dyke theory”, “kike theory”, “nigger theory”,  “spik theory”, “dago theory”, “fag theory”, “cunt theory”? Would  that defuse those hateful names, strip them of their dangerous  power? How, then does “queer”, the language of gay-bashers, purge  the devastating meaning?
    I envy lesbians their august designation, with literary and  historical resonance. I wish we homosexual males would consider  the appellation of ... Trojans. That would confound the football  team at U.S.C.. It might even pull cute Tommy Trojan, already  attired in a toga by International Male, out of the closet — and it  would be a steadfast reminder of safe sex.
    Consider this as an outgrowth of such a new appellation: If  a boy told his father, “Dad, I'm gay,” the likely reaction, at  least at first, would be horror. Similarly, if a boy informed his  father, “Dad, I'm queer,” the reaction might be, at least at  first, double horror. But if the boy told his father, “Dad, I'm a  Trojan,” the response might be: “Great, son, I always knew you had  it in you.”



The excerpt above comes from John Rechy's web site: http://www.johnrechy.com.
 
John Rechy is the author of fifteen books. The first and most famous is City of Night (1963). His most recent is About My Life and the Kept Woman (2008).  


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