David McReynolds
LET ME USE MY SPACE in part simply as memory, reflections by a homosexual whose sexual orientation, at 78, is academic.
让我使用我的部分空间作为一种回忆，由78岁的性取向为同性恋的我的反思是学术性的。
Christopher Phelps certainly opened an interesting chink in the history of the left with his article. It is probably as impossible for those under 40 to grasp what the social landscape was like for homosexuals in 1950 as it is for many young Blacks to believe there was a time when night clubs in Manhattan were segregated, and if you were Black and traveled south of the Mason Dixon line, you had to change to a “colored only” car. In the 1950s Allen Ginsberg was the first American “in polite company” who was an admitted homosexual. (After a poetry reading in Chicago sometime in the 1950s, a woman came up to him and said, “Mr. Ginsberg, I love your poetry. But tell me, why is there so much about homosexuality in it?” To which Allen responded, “Madam, it is because I am queer.”)
Christopher Phelps 的文章肯定在左派历史中打开了一个有趣的谜。 对于40岁以下的人来说，掌握1950年同性恋者的社会状况可能是不可能的，因为许多年轻的黑人都相信曼哈顿的夜店俱乐部是被隔离的，如果你是黑人并前往南方Mason Dixon线，你必须改变为“只为有色人种”的汽车。 在二十世纪五十年代，Allen Ginsberg是在美国“有礼貌的公司”第一位承认自己是同性恋者的。 （在20世纪50年代的芝加哥诗歌朗诵之后，一位女士走过来对他说：“Ginsberg先生，我喜欢你的诗歌，但请告诉我，为什么其中有这么多同性恋内容？”Allen回应道，“女士，这是因为我是同性恋。”）
Why did the left ignore this issue? Why not? Sexual “deviation” was then a matter for the obscure, bohemian margins of society. Particularly, it seems to me, the Marxist Left tends to be rigidly “macho,” conformist on social norms, while radical on political views. And Marxists, because they are part of the society, tend to accept the norms of that society, even while in some areas setting their shoulders “against the norm.” Perhaps it was precisely because Marxists were challenging so many things and had, so to speak, so much on their plate, that they showed little imagination in the sexual byways. Nor was Marx alone — Freud, while not treating homosexuality as “wrong,” did consider it an aberration.
为什么左派忽视这个问题？ 为什么不？ 然后，性“偏差”就成了社会晦涩难懂的波希米亚边缘问题。 特别是，在我看来，马克思主义左派倾向于僵化的“男子气概”，坚持社会规范，而在政治观点上激进。 而马克思主义者，因为他们是社会的一部分，他们倾向于接受社会的规范，即使在某些地区，他们肩负的是“违反规范”。 也许恰恰是因为马克思主义者挑战了很多东西，可以说他们的盘子里有这么多东西，所以他们在性的小路上几乎没有显示出想象力。 马克思并不孤单 – 弗洛伊德虽然没有把同性恋视为“错误的”，但认为它是一种畸形。
Invisible
隐形的
HOWEVER POORLY THE LEFT DEALT WITH racism, it did try to deal with it. On something as “socially acceptable” as anti-Semitism (prior to the Holocaust), the left engaged in courageous battle. But one of the reasons homosexuality remained beyond the pale was that to a great extent it was invisible (it still is, of which more in a moment). Jews could be identified, as could racial groups. But homosexuals were, it was assumed, those rare and obvious creatures with touches of makeup, the slight lisp, the gentle sense of fashion, the Oscar Wildes of the world, devoted to a love that dare not speak its name.
尽管左派对抗种族主义的努力很不够，但它确实试图解决这个问题。 在反犹太主义（大屠杀之前）的“社会上可以接受的东西”中，左派进行了勇敢的战斗。 但是，同性恋仍然存在于视线之外的原因是，它在很大程度上是隐形的（现在仍然是这样，其中更多的是在一段时间内）。 犹太人和种族群体都可以被标记。 但同性恋者们被假设为：那些罕见而明显的化妆品，轻微的口齿伶俐，温和的时尚感，世界的奥斯卡王尔德斯，致力于一种不敢说出其名字的爱情。
As a kid in Los Angeles I used to read one of the comics — Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. While others were looking at the sexy Sheena, I was drawn to the half naked guys who were her cohorts. I worried about my “tendencies,” read what little I could (no internet then), hoped that as adolescence passed I’d find girls exciting. Never happened. I had nothing against girls, but it was the slim young men my own age who drew my attention.
作为洛杉矶的一个孩子，我曾经阅读过一本漫画 – 丛林女王希娜。 当其他人在看性感的Sheena时，我被吸引到她的同伙的半裸人。 我担心自己的“倾向”，看看我能够做些什么（当时没有互联网），希望随着青春期的过去，我会发现女孩们令我兴奋。 这从未发生过。 我并不是反对女孩，但我这个年龄段的苗条青年吸引了我的注意力。
The how and why I “came out” are not important here (only the date is still clear — May 25, 1949). In those days gay men would ask one another “when did you come out?” in the way one butterfly might ask another “when did you learn to fly?” It was certainly a lonely time. I was very lucky in that the radical group I hung with at UCLA was as much bohemian as it was radical. It was accepting — though only a couple of us in that loose and wonderful group were gay. I could, therefore, be myself as well as take an active part in the Socialist Party.
我“出柜”的方式和原因在这里并不重要（只有日期依然清晰 – 1949年5月25日）。 在那些日子里，男同性恋者会问彼此“你什么时候出柜的？” 就像一只蝴蝶可能会问另一只“你什么时候学会飞翔？” 这当然是一个孤独的时刻。 我非常幸运，因为我在加州大学洛杉矶分校接触的一个激进组织同样也很波澜壮阔。 它正在接受 – 尽管在这个宽松而美妙的组织中只有我们几个人是同性恋。 因此，我可以做自己，积极参加社会主义党。
I wasn’t given to effeminate behavior. I might not have been the butchest guy on campus, but my sexuality wasn’t an issue. It was after I came out that I began to realize just how many men are homosexual. Is it one in ten? It certainly isn’t less than that. When Kinsey reported that 37 percent of men had had homosexual experiences after puberty the only question I had was why just 37 percent? Were the rest not good looking enough, or did they just miss the odd encounter, because, if we discuss sexuality, and if we go by the common experiences of most homosexual men, it is clear that a hell of a lot of straight guys had such experiences. Young men are open to almost any sexual adventure. We have an entire field of sexuality that is largely invisible. By the time men are 25 their sexuality has become pretty defined and some of their sexual past is simply forgotten (or repressed).
我没有被赋予降低行为的能力。 我可能不是校园里最受欢迎的人，但我的性行为不是问题。 在我出来后，我开始意识到有多少男人是同性恋者。 这是十分之一吗？ 这当然不会少于这个。 当Kinsey报道37％的男人在青春期后有同性恋体验时，我唯一的问题就是为什么只有37％？ 是剩下的人不够漂亮吗，还是他们只是被统计者遗漏了，因为，如果我们讨论性行为，并且如果我们查看大多数同性恋者的共同经历，很明显，很多直男人都有这样的经历。 年轻男性几乎可以接受任何性冒险。我们有一个完全隐形的性领域。 到男性25岁时，他们的性行为已经变得相当明确，并且他们的一些性过去简单的被遗忘（或被压制）了。
While one could never ignore the African in a white society, or the Jew in a Christian society, nothing was easier than to assume that the only homosexuals were those who were “obvious.” (It would be my guess that, at best, only one in every six homosexual men are in any way obvious.) Homosexuals were, for the most part, invisible — even to each other, which was why once we “came out” we discovered an entire world we had never known existed. Homosexuals are not defined by race or class, appearing both as common criminals and J. Edgar Hoover, as truck drivers and actors, carpenters and dancers.
虽然人们永远无法忽视白人社会中的非洲人或基督教社会中的犹太人，但没有比简单假设同性恋者只是那些“显而易见”的人更容易了。 （根据我的猜测，只有六分之一的同性恋者在任何方面都很明显。）同性恋者大部分是隐形的 – 甚至对彼此都是隐形的，这就是为什么一旦我们“出柜” 我们发现了一个我们从未知道存在的整个世界。 同性恋不是由种族或阶级所定义的，既有普通罪犯也有J. Edgar Hoover，他们是卡车司机和演员，也是木匠和舞者。
“You aren’t one of them, are you?”
“你不是他们中的一员，对吧？”
I EXPERIENCED LITTLE BIAS WITHIN the Socialist Party. The late, and nearly great, Samuel H. Friedman (a Jew who kept kosher and whose wife was an Irish Catholic) said to me “I’ve heard some nasty things about you, Comrade McReynolds, but I don’t believe them.” Dwight MacDonald once said “You aren’t one of those, are you?” But it was never used against me except by some of those around Max Shachtman (I always thought it ironic that Max ended up with Tom Kahn, whose homosexuality was an open secret, as one of the few who remained on his side to the end). Within the War Resisters League (WRL), where I worked on staff for 39 years, it was never an issue, not because there was some secret gay cabal in the WRL, but because the radical tradition of the secular pacifists was much more profoundly radical than that of most Marxists. Bayard Rustin wasn’t hired by WRL because he was gay (or black) but because he was incredibly talented. (Let it be noted, as part of the historical record, and as a reminder that even great leaders have feet of clay, that A.J. Muste, so clearly a mentor for me, resigned from the executive committee of WRL in protest against the hiring of Bayard, because he felt Rustin’s record of making indiscreet homosexual passes would threaten the organization. And Bayard himself, in 1969, when the WRL magazine WIN had a “gay liberation” issue, with pieces from Paul Goodman, Allen Ginsberg and myself, phoned Ralph DiGia to say, “you guys are going to have to fire David — he will destroy the organization.” I never held this against Bayard, understanding only too well what his own experience had taught him.)
我在社会党内经历了一些小小的偏见。已故的和近乎伟大的Samuel H. Friedman（一位犹太教徒，他的妻子是爱尔兰天主教徒）对我说：“我听说过McReynolds同志的一些令人讨厌的事情，但我不相信他们。 “Dwight MacDonald曾经说过：“你不是其中之一，对吧？”但除了Max Shachtman身边的一些人之外，同性恋这一事实从来没有被用来反对我（我一直认为Max 最终结束与Tom Kahn的关系是很讽刺的，Tom Kahn是同性恋者是一个公开的秘密，作为少数仍然支持他的人之一） 。在我担任过39年工作人员的反对战争联盟（WRL）内部，这不是一个问题，也不是因为WRL有一些秘密的同性恋集团，而是因为世俗和平主义者的激进传统比大多数马克思主义者更为激进。 Bayard Rustin，不是因为他是同性恋（或黑人）才被WRL聘用，而是因为他非常有才华。 （值得注意的是，作为历史记录的一部分，并且作为一个提醒，即使是伟大的领导者也有粘土的脚步，AJ Muste，显然是我的导师，从WRL的执行委员会辞职，以抗议雇用Bayard，因为他觉得Rustin做出轻率的同性恋通行证的记录会威胁组织，而且在1969年，当WRL杂志WIN有一个“同性恋解放”的问题，并放有Paul Goodman，Allen Ginsberg和我的作品时，他打电话给Ralph DiGia说，“你们将不得不开除David – 他会摧毁这个组织。”我从来没有反对过Bayard，只知道他自己的经验教会了他。）
My personal take on the homosexual issue is controversial. I don’t think homosexuality is “normal” any more than I think my brown eyes are “normal” or my height, of 6′ 3″ is “normal.” Normal is a matter of a norm within a society. Natural is another matter altogether — homosexuality is as natural as any other form of sexual expression. I have found it hard to get used to transsexuals, etc. because those are things that happened long after I discovered who I was. Nor did I understand cross-dressing (except that I’ve learned many transvestites are not homosexual at all, but quite straight). I believe the curve of nature is to reproduce, and for this purpose a good bit of heterosexuality is essential. But in the whole of the animal kingdom there is always, also, a remarkable display of homosexuality. It ain’t the norm, but it is very natural.
我个人对同性恋问题的看法是有争议的。 我认为同性恋不是“正常的”，就像我不认为我的棕色眼睛是“正常的”或我的身高，6’3“是”正常的“。正常是社会中规范的问题。 同性恋与任何其他形式的性表达一样自然，我发现很难习惯变性者等，因为那些事情是在我发现我是谁后才发生的事情，我也不了解穿越性行为 （除了我学会了很多异装癖者根本不是同性恋者，而是直男）我相信自然界的曲线是再生产的，为了这一目的，很好的异性恋是很重要的，但是在整个动物王国 同性恋也总是有非凡的表现，这不是规范，但是这是非常自然的。
The task of socialists who seek “the liberation of all” must be to understand that this must include all the byways of human sexuality. The only exceptions are forms of sexuality that harm people against their will. Sadomasochism is neither straight nor homosexual — it permeates much of our society. So long as it is consensual we have to accept it, even if we don’t understand it. Children are off- limits not because they are innocent (Freud would be amused at the idea that children were ever really innocent) but because they too easily become victims.
寻求“解放所有人”的这一社会主义者的任务必须被理解为这必须包括人类性行为的所有方面。 唯一的例外是伤害人们并且违背他们的意志的性活动形式。 虐恋不是直的，也不是同性恋的 – 它渗透到我们社会的很多地方。 只要它是自愿的，我们必须接受它，即使我们不理解它。 孩子们被禁止进行性行为不是因为他们是无辜的（弗洛伊德会思考孩子们是否真的是无辜的），而是因为他们很容易成为受害者。
Once I asked a group of young gays and lesbians what they thought about the movement for “inter-generational” sex. They laughed and said they noted that the magazines pushing this view all seemed to carry illustrations of young boys — never of old men. The kids were right. They had put their finger on why there need to be legal limits. But even conceding this, those limits are often unreal — whether in homosexual or heterosexual relations. It is hard to persuade me that a sexual liaison between a 16 year old and a 25 year old is some perversion.
有一次，我问了一群年轻的男同性恋者和女同性恋者关于他们对“代际间”性行为的看法。 他们笑了起来，并表示他们指出，推动这种观点的杂志似乎都带有年轻男孩的插图 – 从来没有老人。 孩子们是对的。 他们指责为什么需要有法律限制。 但即使承认这一点，这些限制往往是不真实的 – 无论是在同性恋或异性恋关系。 很难说服我去认可16岁到25岁之间的性关系有些变态。
A quick note on gay rights and the presence of gays within left organizations. We have always been there. I remember in the early 1950s that in California one friend had been expelled from the Socialist Youth League (linked to Shachtman’s Independent Socialist League) because he was gay. I know from talking with Dorothy Healey that there was a similar policy in the Communist Party — they were worried about possible dangers of blackmail. And until fairly recently it was true of both the main Trotskyist groups and of the Maoist groups (Bob Avakian of the Revolutionary Communist Party viewed homosexuality as a disease of capitalism).
关于同性恋权利的以及左派组织中同性恋的存在的简要记录。 我们一直在那里。 我记得在1950s早期，在加利福尼亚州，一个朋友被赶出了社会主义青年团（与Shachtman的独立社会主义联盟有关），因为他是同性恋。 我知道，在与Dorothy Healey谈话时，共产党也有类似的政策 – 他们担心可能存在敲诈的危险。 直到最近，主要托派团体和毛派团体（革命共产党的Bob Avakian都认为同性恋是资本主义的疾病）。（这些美国的托派真够脑残的，知道当年托洛茨基是支持同性恋平权，并推动了沙俄时期压迫同性恋者的法律的废除吗？至于毛派倒是不奇怪，斯大林和毛贼都是压迫同性恋者的。）
The irony, for those of us with any sense of history, is that while the Soviet Union became quite puritanical under Stalin, the Bolsheviks, shortly after taking power, eliminated the laws relating to homosexuality. (And, I might add, they abolished the death penalty).
对于我们这些了解历史的人来说，讽刺之处在于，虽然苏联在斯大林的统治下变得非常清教，但布尔什维克在上台后不久就取消了与同性恋有关的法律。（而且，我可以补充说，他们废除了死刑）。
When the first Gay Pride Parades took place, I joined them, because I felt they needed support. But they are now so large (and commercial) that I don’t feel a moral obligation to attend.
当第一次同性恋骄傲游行发生时，我加入了他们，因为我觉得他们需要支持。 但他们现在这么大（和商业化），所以我不觉得有道义上的参与义务了。
On issues such as gay marriage, I am not at all sure if I would have wanted to be married back in the days when this might have made a difference to me (as I said, at 78, some things are academic). But while I might not have made that choice, men and women who are gay and lesbian should have the same right to be unhappy that heterosexual couples have. Why do straights feel that their marriages are threatened if homosexuals get married? How insecure are straights that they are nervous about full rights for gays and lesbians? A person who is comfortable with his or her own sexuality really doesn’t care. The only people who are nervous are those who have a deep homosexual streak they are trying to hide. Show me a gay-basher and I’ll show you someone just one step away from being queer. (This I know from dangerous personal experience, not theory.)
在同性婚姻等问题上，我一点也不确定自己是否愿意在可能对我产生影响的那些日子里结婚。（正如我所说的，在78岁时，有些事情是学术的）。 但是，虽然我可能没有做出这样的选择，但男女同性恋者应该对只有异性恋夫妻有权结婚感到不高兴。 为什么异性恋认为他们的婚姻在同性恋结婚后会受到威胁？ 他们对男女同性恋者的完全权利感到紧张，异性恋有多么不安全？ 一个对自己的性行为感到满意的人真的不在乎。 唯一感到紧张的人是那些试图隐藏自己的同性恋者。 给我看一个恐同者，我会告诉你有人离同性恋者只差一步。 （我从危险的个人经历中知道，而不是理论。）
Finally, I don’t think homosexuals need the same kind of concern on the left in the way that racial minorities do, or women, or the working class. In those cases we have groups that are systematically excluded from full rights in society. Ironically, when we come to homosexuals, you have Cardinals and offensive characters such as the late, unlamented Roy Cohn among the brotherhood. One reason that gay witch hunts peter out is that eventually you find too many public figures of wealth and power being tainted.
最后，我不认为同性恋者需要左派们进行和种族少数群体或妇女或工人阶级一样程度的关注。 在这些案例下，我们有一些被系统性的全面排除在社会权利之外的群体。 具有讽刺意味的是，当我们来到同性恋者身边时，你们会看到红衣主教和无礼的人物，比如已故的未开化的Roy Cohn。 同性恋猎巫的一个原因是，最终你会发现太多的拥有财富和权力的公众人物被污染。
The Left has done a pretty good job catching up with homosexuality, as it has with gender issues. My own concern is more along traditional socialist lines of class, but when we talk about liberating the oppressed, gays and lesbians are right up there at the top of that agenda, and we should not hesitate to embrace their rights.
左派在处理同性恋问题方面做得非常好，就像性别问题一样。 我个人更关注的是传统的社会主义阶级的划分，但是当我们谈论解放被压迫者的时候，当同性恋者在那个议程的顶端时，我们应该毫不犹豫地拥抱他们的权利。
Let me close by noting that the tragedy in the “old days” was how often the issue of homosexuality defined people, as if their form of sexual expression was the most important thing about them. I probably have never had an original idea, but do recognize one when I see it: Allen Ginsberg put it perfectly when he said that he was not a homosexual poet, but a poet who was homosexual.
让我关注一下，“过去的日子”中的悲剧是同性恋问题如何定义人们，好像他们的性表达形式是他们最重要的事情。 我可能从来没有一个原创的想法，但是当我看到它时确实承认它：Allen Ginsberg说，他不是一个同性恋诗人，而是一位诗人和同性恋者。