Silly Little Country

How Did We Get Here?

In an earlier post I expressed some pride at how far Canada had come in the years of my life (years during which Alan Turing (a hero for me in all my careers) killed himself, and other things closer to home gave us no paticular credit).
What I forgot to include in that post was a lovely link from the ever brilliant Virginia Postrel, to a wonderful article by Janathan Rauch, about the person probably more individually responsible than anyone for this great change in Canadian society. (And as usual, he is from the land of the Great Satan.)
What are the best bits? Well, all of them, but for me:

The bestower of these documents and mementos is alive and well at 81 and, naturally, pleasantly surprised. "We would never have imagined," he said in a recent interview. "If anyone had told us, when we were scrambling around on our hands and knees on somebody's living room floor with poster board making signs, that those very signs would end up in the Smithsonian with Thomas Jefferson's desk and Abraham Lincoln's inkwell, we would have thought they were nuts."

You must read the article to know how delicious this is! And it is!

A delectable, if backhanded, tribute to Kameny's accomplishments comes from Peter LaBarbera, an anti-gay activist. Protesting the Library of Congress's acquisition of Kameny's papers, LaBarbera wrote of Kameny, "He is brilliant but wasted his considerable intellect and talents on homosexual activism, which is a shame." Well, yes. Kameny might have had a brilliant scientific career -- if the government hadn't fired him for being homosexual. That was a shame.

I recall exposure in my childhood to the idea that homosexuals might get fired from government positions. To my credit this puzzled me. To my shame it did not outrage me.

Rauch puts it best in his last paragraph, which I will simply quote, but the general notion is that we are now obviating so much artificial misery. Let us hope we can maintain the values behind this, as there are "progressive" forces aligned today with those who would casually and merrily exterminate homosexuals. Here is Rauch's delightful last summary - and let me say, hail Kameny!

My partner, Michael, and I are among the millions who owe some large measure of our happiness to Kameny's pursuits. This Thanksgiving found me grateful that one pariah fought back, never imagining he could fail; even more grateful to live in a country with a conscience; most grateful of all to know that there are generations of Franklin Kamenys yet to be born.

posted by Alan Adamson @ 6:50 PM