Homosexuals: evolution or revolution

Ian Harvey

Dennis Altman, American Fulbright Scholar and a lecturer at Sydney University, Australia, has written a book which some may regard as important, others reject as theoretical and biased and the

• great majority will not bother to read at all. Its title is Homosexual Oppression and Liberation. Whatever the view, or non-view, about the book, the subject is one which ought not to be dismissed as either frivolous or irrelevant; and certainly not as imaginary. Nor should the author be castigated outright as a confused intellectual with no real experience of the realities of life; however tempting it may be to do so. Not the least of his qualifications for writing the book is that he is a self-acknowledged homosexual who has had the courage to "come out ": to quote the homosexual jargon. As the title of the book indicates two streams run through it: oppression and liberation. On the subject of oppression nothing startingly new emerges. At the same time it is a confirmation that conditions which apply in Britain also apply in the United States

and in Australia. As one might ex pect oppression in America tends to be more extreme and is asso

ciated with stresses which do not

apply in this country: reaction to 'Black Power,' to Vietnam and, to a lesser degree, student unrest.

Altman suggests that " those • who are sexually insecure will often bolster up their confidence

by directing hostility at homosexuals who threaten their own ego." Martha Shelley, another American writer, whom he quotes, puts it more formidably by exclaiming, "We are the extrusions of your unconscious mind — your worst fears made flesh." There is some truth in this Freudian argument. On the other hand it is questionable whether , there are enough sexually in, secure heterosexuals — or 'straights,' to use the jargon once again — to maintain an oppression on the scale which exists either in America or here.

The real source of oppression is fear. It is a fear born of prejudice and ignorance. It is the fear by society that homosexuals represent a disease which is contagious and which, if not controlled, could become an epidemic. This they regard as a threat to their lives, to their marital happiness and to their children. In the wider context Altman claims that "the op pression of homosexuals is part of the broader repression of sexuality and our liberation can only come about as part of a total revolution of social attitudes."

Only Americans can really judge how far this is the case. So

far as Britain is concerned it is an over-statement which only the more extreme element in the ho mosexual society would accept. It can be argued that social morality and sexual attitudes have changed vastly since the Victorian era but it has not required a revolution to achieve this. It has been an evolutionary process which has admittedly been slow but there has been no violent back-lash as a result. Those who set about organising revolutions must, even if they succeed, beware the counter-revolution.

It would be untrue to suggest that homosexuals in this country are not still oppressed although they are not still branded as criminals. It is largely an oppression of indifference and of exclusion. 'When it moves into the sphere of employment it becomes victimisation. In certain situations, such as the Foreign Service, homosexuals are regarded as a security risk. But there would be no risk at all if it were not for society's attitude towards homosexuality which makes them vulnerable to blackmail. In a different context Dilke would not today have had to give up his political career because of a heterosexual adventure which would now be accepted if not condoned. Socially homosexuals are not so much oppressed as left to their own devices out in the cold and unofficially they are declared persona non grata in the best circles. Ironically it is in the best circles that a great deal of homosexuality flourishes beneath the surface.

It is on the subject of liberation that Altman launches into the world of controversy. And this is just as well for him as an author otherwise his contribution to thought on the subject would be undistinguished. It does, however,

constitute a contribution of a highly dubious nature which the majority of those who are in volved in trying to solve the problem of the homosexuals in Britain

will find neither practical nor ac-. ceptable. Nor does it coincide with

the approach of the majority of homosexuals themselves to that problem.

The psycho-philosophy of the homosexuals may be said to fall into three categories: negotiation, aggression and withdrawal. Those who fall into the first group are prepared to accept the realities of society and are concerned with changing public opinion thereby achieving their ultimate objective which is acceptance on equal terms with heterosexuals, In the homosexual community they are represented by the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. The second group cares for none of these things and does not wish to have anything to do with a social order which they profess to despise and which they believe will never accept them under any circumstances. This largely comprises the Gay Liberation Front with its origins in America. The third group, which is the most numerous, consists of those who choose to remain sexually anonymous and have no intention of disclosing themselves or of fighting for their rights.

Dennis Altman theoretically belongs to the second group in the long term although in practice he clearly recognises that it will be a long hard slog and is consequently prepared to go along with the first group. He has, after all, a job to hold down. As he puts it "at the very least I suspect one needs to accept some form of postponed gratification. For a lecturer in politics some of his views on that subject are, to put it mildly, extremely odd. His declaration that "political movements, all of them, attract people who are insecure, confused and sexually uncertain " can only be regarded as a generalisation of the wildest sort. Looking around the various Party Conferences, both here and in America, it is difficult to associate, even with the most exciting stretch of imagination, the majority of those assembled with this definition.

Consequently it makes some of Mr Altman's political claims with regard to homosexuals and homosexuality suspect. For instance: "Only a socialism flavoured by anarchism would seem to me consistent with sexual

liberation for conventional notions of socialism do not contain sufficient protection for the individual vis-à-vis the collective." History presents no evidence of anarchy providing sufficient protection for individuals: in fact the reverse is the case.

An even more profound nonsense is to be found in a passage which reads, "The argument is sometimes advanced that sexual liberation will arise out of political power. I cannot agree. Liberation of minorities as self-hating and concealed as the homosexual, requires a change in values and consciousness that transcends traditional politics." Nevertheless Altman's book should not be dismissed out of hand. It makes an important contribution to the discussion of the homosexual problem by exposing, unintentionally, the fallacies of the doctrine of sexual liberation by extreme methods. Admittedly he weakens

,The

opectator May 5,191: his argument further by his telt dency to generalise about the/' ticular and thus to present a tel' picture of the whole. When Yit speaks about "the neurosis th, does not know when to shut ttP,. and again when he states' A 01' nority has its own kind of age!' sion. It absolutely dares the fl jority to attack it. It hates the jority — not without cause " hei describing a minority within a ir nority and he should admit it., America they are more vocifer°:i than in Britain but they are ee,t ly ineffectual because they don,."1 understand the strength or !Pt, nature of the society with v•Ill'c

they are dealing. hole

the absurdity of the operation is summed up by a r„'t claration by the Gay Liberal.) Front of America: "We apPO, a true functioning democraci without leaders, providing 51. port for one another in our tempts to change our role-oriernit uted behaviour." The reser' would, of course, be a tioning democracy with analn3 and chaos from which W01, emerge a totalitarian reginte.wi ther of the right or of the left. "'be ther of these would be likely well disposed to homosexuals. 1„vo day the Communists have l'st truck with them and in the the Nazis put them in concernI'to tion camps. Those in Britain Wv seek to emulate their Americ8do ' bi-others and sisters' would ot well to think again assuming thgn they are prepared to think at Many of them suffer from the uto lusion that they have nothing 11 learn and everything to teac,, And that is, of course, a O.' gerous delusion.

The homosexual future 41 country does not depend forwof emancipation on the overthro ,ial our existing society. The ach'e revolution envisaged by. Altrliti-d. and others is a piece of clo to cuckoo thinking and if it were4 occur it would end in total for all concerned. What is nee"ii, e is a two-way process with 1„e heterosexual majority on the o's, hand taking steps to end opPrevit,. sion and the homosexual min°a"i, on the other conducting therole, yes in a way which will protOac. rather than hinder their full "Al ceptance. Altman is right,l • though probably for the wr‘j,ie reasons, when he declares, 01 must re-define ourselves. The reoy. oppression we suffer is 131,:01 chological." It is psycholog 'of largely because of the attitudeslo, society ' and it is therefore ' cumbent upon society to act. 4. The key lies in the field of eul cation wherein rests the source: most of the ignorance which is sponsible for so many of the Pio. judices which afflict homosextlhe It begins in the home with parents which presents a difficuye. ty because so many of them ignorant of the subject or c,,0i5. sider that it ought not to be u'lle cussed. It follows with, .thi5 teachers who can also help n direction through, parent-tea. organisations. It is the Pr,cnthe sional duty of doctors and • iro Christian duty of men of rell,g.'-ve to play their part which they so far failed to do. Those who co trol the instruments of all'

munication can greatly assist by ensuring a valid, as opposed to a distorted, presentation of the Whole subject. And employers must cease their unjust victimisation.

On the political front further amendments are required to the Sexual Offences Act. These are amendments in practice and not in principle and would require

only a short Amending Bill. Most important of these is the reduction of the age of consent for man from twenty-one to sixteen: the same as for women, Scotland and Northern Ireland should be brought within the jurisdiction of the Act. The Armed Forces and the Merchant Navy should cease to be excluded. Outside the Act itself the rules governing homosexual assembly should be abolished and an end put to police harassment. Sterner methods should be taken to prevent the disgraceful Practice of 'queer bashing' Which is every bit as bad as 'mugging' although less concern is Shown about it.

Sir John Wolfenden. who has a clearer understanding of the subject than Dennis Altman, although he is not a homosexual, has written," there is no agreed definition of a homosexual. Indeed It is probable that the crude popular distinction between 'homosexuals 'and ' heterosexuals ' misleadingly over-simplifies the problem and should be superseded by the notion of a 'heterosexual-homosexual-continuum' with a recognition that in each being there are present varying proPortions of each propensity." So be it.