A lear of the Italian gay liberatn movement the 1970s, Mar Mieli bed a radil theoretil perspective wh a urageo (and often provotive)...
Contents:
- TOWARDS A GAY COMMUNISM
- MAR MIELI - TOWARDS A GAY COMMUNISM: ELEMENTS OF A HOMOSEXUAL CRIQUE
- TOWARDS A GAY COMMUNISM: ELEMENTS OF A HOMOSEXUAL CRIQUE [PDF]
TOWARDS A GAY COMMUNISM
* towards a gay communism *
Among the most important works ever to addrs the relatnship between homosexualy, homophobia and palism, Mieli's say ntu to pose a radil challenge to today's domant queer theory and polics. In his view the liberatn of homosexual sire requir the emancipatn of sexualy om both patriarchal sex rol and pal. Drawg heavily upon Marx and psychoanalysis to arrive at a dazzlgly origal visn, Towards a Gay Communism is a hherto neglected classic that will be sential readg for all who seek to unrstand the te meang of sexual liberatn unr palism today.
Mar Mieli was a leadg figure the Italian gay movement of the 1970s, rpected as one of the movement's most profound tellectuals. His work Towards a Gay Communism (Pluto, 2018) was nsired a ntroversial classic of the era.
Towards a Gay Communism belongs to a visnary tradn of ecstatic utopianism... Homosexual Dire is Universal2. Fire and Brimstone, or How Homosexuals Beme Gay3.
MAR MIELI - TOWARDS A GAY COMMUNISM: ELEMENTS OF A HOMOSEXUAL CRIQUE
Towards a Gay Communism7. The EndAppendix A: Unpublished Preface to Homosexualy and Liberatn by Mar Mieli (1980)Appendix B: Translator’s addnal note om Chapter 1Inx. We reproduce here a letter that Harry Whyte (a Brish Communist Party member) wrote to Stal May 1934, which Whyte posed the qutn: “n a homosexual be nsired someone worthy of membership the Communist Party?
” the time, Whyte (himself homosexual) was workg Mosw at the Mosw Daily News. Sce he striv to approach this qutn om a Marxist viewpot, the thor of this letter believ that the cree ntradicts both the facts of life self and the prcipl of is a summary of the facts that are discsed tail the attached letter: On the whole, the ndn of homosexuals unr palism is analogo to the ndn of women, the loured rac, ethnic mori, and other groups that are reprsed for one reason or another; The attu of bourgeois society to homosexualy is based on the ntradictn between: palism’s need for “nnon fodr” and a rerve army of labour (leadg to reprsive laws agast homosexualy, which is regard as a threat to birth rat); the ever-growg poverty of the mass unr palism (leadg to the llapse of the workg-class fay and an crease homosexualy). Science nfirms that an signifint percentage of the populatn suffers om nstutnal homosexualy.
The new law on homosexualy has provoked the most var and ntradictory terpretatns. The March 7 law is absurd and unjt om the viewpot of science, which has proven the existence of nstutnal homosexuals and has no means at s disposal to change the sexual nature of homosexuals.
TOWARDS A GAY COMMUNISM: ELEMENTS OF A HOMOSEXUAL CRIQUE [PDF]
Dear Comra Stal:Although I am a foreign munist who has not yet been promoted to the AUCP(b), [later to be renamed the CPSU, Communist Party of the Soviet Unn] I neverthels thk that will not seem unnatural to you, the lear of the world proletariat, that I addrs you wh a requt to shed light on a qutn that, as seems to me, has huge signifince for a large number of munists the USSR as well as other qutn is as follows: n a homosexual be nsired someone worthy of membership the Communist Party? The recently promulgated law on crimal liabily for sodomy, which was affirmed by the USSR Central Executive Commtee on March 7 of this year, apparently means that homosexuals nnot be regnized as worthy of the tle of Soviet cizen. Consequently, they should be nsired even ls worthy to be members of the AUCP(b) I have a personal stake this qutn sofar as I am a homosexual myself, I addrsed this qutn to a number of ras om the OGPU and the People’s Commissariat for Jtice, to psychiatrists, and to Comra Borod, the edor--chief of the newspaper where I work.
A photograph of homosexual and cross-drsg Rsians, prr to 1917 / Image: public domaAll that I managed to extract om them was a number of ntradictory opns which show that amongst the ras there is no clear theoretil unrstandg of what might have served as the basis for passage of the given law. Comra Borod, who said that he personally took a negative view of homosexualy, at the same time clared that he regard me as a fairly good munist, that I uld be tsted, and that I uld lead my personal life as I liked. Somewhat earlier, when the arrts of homosexuals had only jt begun, Comra Borod was que discled to view me as a potential crimal; he did not regard me as a bad munist, and this was nfirmed by the fact that he promoted me at work by appotg me head of edorial staff, which is the hight-rankg supervisory posn wh the exceptn of members of the edorial board.
Somewhat later, when the December 17 versn of the law already existed, but before the March 7 cree, I ntacted the OGPU nnectn wh the arrt of a certa person wh whom I had had homosexual relatns. I was told there that there was nothg that crimated the statements produced the imprsn that the Soviet ans of jtice were not prosecutg homosexualy as such, only certa socially dangero homosexuals. On the other hand, however, after the law was issued on March 7, I had a nversatn the OGPU which I was told that the law would be strictly applied to each se of homosexualy that was brought to nnectn wh the lack of clary that exists this matter, I turn to you the hope that you will fd the time to give me an me to expla to you this qutn as I unrstand and foremost, I would like to pot out that I view the ndn of homosexuals who are eher of workg-class orig or workers themselv to be analogo to the ndn of women unr the palist regime and the loured rac who are opprsed by imperialism.