Sometimes I’m convinced that I need to relocate. The air in Tennessee, it seems, breeds toxic and ill-informed rhetoric. Take for example the recent statements of Tennessee State Senator Stacey Campfield (R)1, who, in addition to promoting the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill in the legislature, has recently said:
Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community — it was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, if I recall.
Wait, it gets better…
My understanding is that it is virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex…very rarely [transmitted].
and better…
[Homosexuals] do not naturally reproduce. It has not been proven that it is nature. It happens in nature, but so does beastiality. That does not make it right or something we should be teaching in school.
There are so many problematic – and, honestly, downright evil – assumptions layered within these statements that it is difficult to know where to begin. Let us examine the statements of this gentleman – a term I use with only the loosest connection to its actual meaning – through the lens of radical masculinity and ask ourselves the question, “How do these statements support the Patriarchy?”
First, the Patriarchy survives by othering. By separating those members of society who do not conform to the ideological dictates of the ruling class, they are subjugated by and to it. The dictates in this situation ooze heteronormativity. Homosexuals, it would seem, are judged as traitors to their gender and to their roles in society. Men are supposed to act in a certain fashion, and loving other men does not conform to that paradigm.
In this particular instance, the Senator further clouds the issue by conflating homosexuality with zoophilia, which is a particularly ridiculous claim. There is no connection between the two. But by tying them together in the minds of his constituents, the senator is playing upon as many factors as possible to disturb and disgust the delicate sensibilities of his bible belt constituents. This is a particularly useful tactic in the arsenal of the Southern politician, but its success does not in any way validate its use. It is a lie, based in fear and misunderstanding, meant to achieve a particular end.
Further, it would be impossible to overlook the factual inaccuracy of the Senator’s second statement. Given that the demographic population whose incidents of HIV infection show the highest rate of growth is heterosexual women2, the statement is, on its face, without veracity. It is nothing more than a desperate attempt to cling to what the Senator would no doubt call “the sanctity of the traditional family” by ignoring science (something at which Republicans and the Religious Right are quite adept, it would seem) in favor of a social paradigm that is dying a slow, torturous death.
As this situation garners more media attention, I’m sure that I will return to the subject. Additional, I’ll follow the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and any other hate mongering legislation that appears in the Tennessee legislature. Unfortunately, I’m sure that I will have a great deal about which to write.
Until next time, dear readers, be good to each other. Namaste.
1 – Which stands for Republican, of course, but could be aptly abbreviating Reprobate, Ridiculous, or Ruthless.
2- See http://www.avert.org/usa-race-age.htm for more information.