Conchita is a transvestite, not a ‘gay man’
Members of the European Parliament have organised a concert in which the bearded cross-dresser and Eurovision Song Contest winner known as Conchita performed.
The concert was held to promote their report against homophobia and sexual discrimination. In that case, Conchita was the worst possible choice. When you’re trying to fight homophobia, you don’t do it by portraying gay men as cross-dressing hermaphrodites with heavy eye make-up and beards, and a predilection for 1930s screen goddess evening gowns.
Most of the gay men I know are indistinguishable in appearance, clothing and general comportment from straight men. Because of this, they are ‘invisible’ as gay men. But they are precisely the sort with whom you fight homophobia, because they get the response ‘Oh, I didn’t realise he was gay!’
The last thing a campaign against homophobia should do is strengthen the association, in the public mind, of homosexuality with ‘freaks’.
Every form of sexuality has its weirdos. Are they representative of the rest? No. That Maltese man in Manhattan whose particular thrill it is to lie beneath a carpet and have women in spiked heels walk over him in public is not representative of male heterosexuality.
15 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
He’s not a transvestite – this Conchita business was just ‘an act’.
Obviously, many people who shoot their mouth off about Art-related matters, don’t have a clue about this sphere functions.
It just goes to show that in the 21st century so many people still equate homosexuals with freaks of nature.
So sad but so true.
[Daphne – My point exactly, Anthony, and many homosexual men undermine their own cause by actively seeking to be associated with this kind of trash act.]
Tom Neuwirth identifies as a gay man, Conchita Wurst is a character through whom he’s performing gender. It might read as weird or freakish to some, especially people deeply invested in supporting the gender binary, but he’s certainly a high-profile member of the LGBTQI community and that’s not an association anyone should be ashamed of acknowledging. Nobody should aim for ‘blending in’ (“passing”) if that means acting or presenting themselves inauthentically. That’s what fighting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity ultimately means.
[Daphne – I’m sorry, but you just don’t get it, do you. I and most women I know would take grave exception to the European Parliament contracting Illona Staller or her equivalent to perform at a concert to promote a report against misogyny. Gay men have as much right to object to being represented by a freak show as straight women have to being represented by a nutjob nymphomaniac. And lest you feel tempted to say anything untoward about my description of this stage act as a freak show, that is in fact its marketing tactic, hence the combination of beard, gown and false eyelashes.]
I don’t particularly disagree with the characterization of Neuwirth’s act as a freak show – though that needs to be qualified.
However I do think the inclusion of this particular drag queen puts a tacit stamp of approval on the kind of gender fluidity that’s become more prevalent in Western culture.
We’re confronted by a person in a gown, sporting a beard, addressed using female pronouns, while defiantly identifying as a gay male. Conchita Wurst, if nothing else, is a symbol of the queering of identity that’s become an unavoidable part of LGBTQI discourse.
What does QI stand for?
Queer: a reclaimed term that’s become popular with academia (Queer Studies, Queer Theory etc) that’s generally used to cover a broad number of sexual or gender minorities that fall outside of LGBT.
Intersex: an individual who manifests atypical or ambiguous genitalia (I suppose it could also apply to chromosomal anomalies).
What could ever fall outside LGBTI except clinically normal heterosexuals?
something wicked is right. Grimsby University offer M.A. courses in Eclectic Queerism and Other Mundane Gender Bending Anomalies – no qualifications required for members of the LGBTQIFYJ community.
It’s also a very entertaining programme hosted by Stephen Fry.
I would be the very last person on earth anyone would guess he is gay. I love my sexuality, in fact I would never want to be heterosexual.
Conchita is neither a transvestite nor a gay man. Conchita is a bearded lady character portrayed by Tom Neuwirth, who is a professional transvestite performer (commonly: “drag queen”) and also a gay man.
When you put everything in such a context, in a way it may make sense as I do get your point. Hence with that being said, there are two kinds of LGBT communities in my opinion; those who make it noticed and those who make it almost an invisible trait to a point were it would be difficult to note the individuals sexual orientation. Although what I’m trying to say here is that even though Conchita may trigger more homophobic statements, since she was put as an example in this regard. It shows that the general public is still stuck in the same critical acclaim and mentality. Yes Conchita is indeed different from the norm but he is a gay man doing a drag queen act. Whether or not the LGBT community wants his/her representation or not, what was said in parliament by Conchita is actual fact.
So gays are ok as long as they act like straight guys. You want us to be invisible. You are a homophobe through and through, Daphne.
[Daphne – Try to think before you speak. ‘Conchita’ is no more representative of gay men than ‘Cicciolina’ is representative of straight women. Both caricatures are used to demean and undermine their ‘group’. Don’t play along with it. It’s the very people who push forward Conchita as representative of gay men who seek to undermine and weaken the very cause of being taken seriously.]
You’re right about that, Daphne, but I would rather have Conchita at the European Parliament or any other parliament, talking about whatever than Cicciolina or someone like her doing the same.
Cicciolina ran for office in Italy and is like Zaren tal-Ajkla, only more ‘gravi u tan-nejk’. We speak of the ‘other Malta’ on this blog but I suspect that every country has its ‘other’ self, just like Cicciolina getting involved in a life of politics and taken seriously happened in the ‘other Italy’.