Saturday, January 10, 2009

Gay Sex in Movie Houses



My recent post on gay sex on movie houses (Goodbye Cinema) drew a very interesting argument from some of Lexuality’s most sensible readers.


Mr. Anonymouse thinks having gay sex in movie houses is unacceptable. Here is the comment:

That is just disgusting.Activities like these are the things that are setting the gay rights movement backward.If we want respect, then we should act with respect. If we want society to perceive us as equal human beings then we should at least not give them the impression that we are sex-crazed maniacs.Sex in the cinemas (while entirely exhilarating) is just unethical and really quite distasteful behavior.And the way you exalt the cinema and by extension the act is just backward.

On the other hand, one of Lexuality’s more discerning readers, “Mr. Line of Flight” has given a broader perspective on this matter:

Of course, I disagree with Anonymous. Gays will never get respect by trying to imitate other people. People must be in their own integrity. I don't know if casual, anonymous moviehouse sex is in line with that.I think Anonymous' comments of moviehouse sex being unethical is way over the top. What is unethical about it? The advent of the cinema is what produced the 20th century notion of romantic love and modern dating (straight and gay).Cinema and the automobile (in Euro-America) provided a "private" place for couples to be intimate (get to know one another, make out, whatever) which was not available when people courted by having callers drop in and visit with the entire family.The fact that gays have used this space for a variation on this (especially for those young gays who can't afford SOGO or elsewhere), provides ample evidence to support a challenge to the claim that its unethical. Such a claim is clearly classist and seeks to create a class specific notion of gay liberation.

For me, conformity to heterosexual standards would never bring true liberation for the queer community.

Thank your Mr. Line of Flight, I couldn’t have said it much better.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

wtf?! "conformity with heterosexual standards"? if there's anything we should conform to, it's morality. so we want to define ourselves as "sex-craved maniacs", indeed?

even if it were a man and woman getting it on the movie theater, it's just so wrong.

we have to abide by the standards of decency, not of heterosexuality.

Lex Bonife said...

That's exactly the point.

You accept morality as if it has been cast in stone.

And you do not even question how such moral standards have been organized.

These morals were created by the "powerful" heterosexuals and the needs of the minority "gay men" were never considered in the creation of such morals.

be critical. always question what is imposed on you.