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From: sdyer@bbncca.ARPA (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: net.motss
Subject: Re: Turing Biography and Discrimination
Message-ID: <756@bbncca.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 3-Jun-84 14:02:29 EDT
Article-I.D.: bbncca.756
Posted: Sun Jun  3 14:02:29 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 3-Jun-84 22:22:20 EDT
References: <3501@fortune.UUCP>
Organization: Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, Ma.
Lines: 32

Sorry, John, I cannot agree with your posting about "homophobophobia."

First, you state:

	If we truly want to end discrimination, we should become
	not only color-blind but sexual-preference blind and
	bigotry-blind.  And probably blind to a lot of other things as
	well.

This paragraph could be a bit more precise, but I feel you are confusing
the end-point (no discrimination) with our present condition (wallowing in
it.)  If we truly want to end homophobia and discrimination, we have to
identify it and work against it.  Pretending that it doesn't exist may be
comforting until one tries to operate in the real world--the illusion
vanishes pretty quickly.  Witness the Deukmejian AB-1 veto, the opposition to
forming 'net.motss', the fervent opposition to civil rights bills in most
states...one could go on and on.

As far as the discussions about "who was gay vs. who wasn't", well, at some
very basic level, the sexual preferences of historical figures aren't
usually very important.  However, when facts are covered up, biographies
bowdlerized, manuscripts mistranslated, history distorted, the omission of
such information is symbolic of the homophobic attitudes which engender
such untruths.  As Ron Rizzo said, one even knows the damn name of Charles
Babbage's wife!  Yet Turing, a major figure in mathematics and C.S., who died
tragically young, a suicide during "treatment" for his homosexuality, is
only a name to most of us, an instance of "pure mind" freed from corruption
by the facts.  
-- 
/Steve Dyer
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