The End of Gay Culture

TNG is taking a much needed break from Dec 19-Jan 4. TNG will return with new content on Jan 5. Until then, please enjoy this post from the past year. Original publish date: 4/29/08.

"The tiny, rich space that gay men and women once created for themselves was, after all, the best they could do. In a metaphor coined by the philosopher Michael Walzer, they gilded a cage of exclusion with magnificent ornaments; they spoke to its isolation and pain; they described and maintained it with dignity and considerable beauty. But it was still a cage. And the thing that kept gay people together, that unified them into one homogeneous unit, and that defined the parameters of their culture and the limits of their dreams, were the bars on that cage."

My Friday post on the disappearance of gay bars made me think of Andrew Sullivan's popular essay called "The Death of Gay Culture," which he wrote several years ago. It's a sensitive, thought provoking recap of how gay culture has developed since the 70s, how its changed, and where it's going. If you haven't read it, It's a long essay, but I highly recommend you give it your full attention, as it is essential New Gay reading.