May–June 2014
9
selling one another, for starters. But a corporation cannot vote
or drive a car or hold opinions about the worthiness of cus-
tomers according to their demographic characteristics.
“Ex-Gay” inChina
Whoknewthat “conversion therapy” had
reached farawayChina, albeit transformed intowhat seems a
decidedlyMaoist approach?Soa clinic inChongqing is being
sued by a dissatisfied customer, oneXiaoZhen, who traveled
thereon thepromise—as advertisedonBaidu,China’s answer
toGoogle—that theycould“curehomosexuality.”Xiao’s law-
suit also names Baidu as a culprit for advertising this phony
treatment, and it describes themethod thatwasused:Mr.Xiao
would be induced to have gay sexual fantasies, and electric
shockswould be administeredwhen he got an erection. Now,
you needn’t have read
AClockwork Orange
—or B. F. Skin-
ner—to know that this sort of aversion therapy isn’t going to
turn theguystraight. In fact,Mr.Xiaoclaims it left himaneu-
roticmess, andhe’s suing for anunspecified sum.Whether he
has a leg tostandon inChinesecourt is anothermatter.Thead
only promised to cure his homosexuality, not to make him
straight; andbeingzappedevery timeyouget anerectioncould
“cure” you of sex of any kind. It could certainlymake getting
a boner a lot less fun than it used tobe.
Slipping inSochi
Wecan’t resist anod to themenof thedou-
bles luge,who take sucha ribbing for thephysical positioning
that their sport re-
quires, what with
oneman lying on
topof theother as
they speed down
an icy sluice.The
jokes are too ob-
vious tobe funny,
best left unan-
sweredby theundoubtedlystraight competitors.AmericanPre-
stonGriffall, for example, laughed themoff: “We’re twodudes,
laying on top of each other in spandex. Of course people are
going tomake fun of it.”But his teammateChristianNiccum
seemedgenuinelyhurt: “They’remaking funof our sport, and
it doesn’t reallymake a lot of sense tome.”And hewent on:
“Can’t we showaffection to each otherwithout it being some
sort of sexual contact?”Er, dude, who said anything about af-
fection?But dogoon!
MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD
The Origins of the Gay
Liberation Movement
by Ralf Dose
translated by Edward H. Willis
144 pages | 16 pages of photos
$23 cloth | 9781583674376
available from
MONTHLY REVIEWPRESS
“Magnus Hirschfeld is one of the forgotten giants
of history. He can rightly be considered the founder
of the first gay liberation movement, more than a
century ago ... Ralf Dose’s biography will help re-
store Hirschfeld and the movement he led to the
pages of history. This history needs to be known.”
—
JOHN D’EMILIO
, co-author,
Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America
“The remarkable story of his pioneering contribu-
tion to sexological research, sexual law reform,
feminism, and LGBT emancipation. Be inspired!”
—
PETER TATCHELL
, human rights & LGBT campaigner
—
H
ARVARD
A
FFILIATES
—
Join theHarvardGender&SexualityCaucus!
TheHGSCis theorganizationfor alumni/æ, faculty, andstaffofHarvardUni-
versity, nowwith over 5,000members. Since 1983 the Caucus has pressed
Harvard togive fair andequal treatment togays, lesbians, bisexuals, and trans-
gendered people—andwith considerable success. The Caucus supports stu-
dent activities, sponsors several lectures, hosts an annual dinner at
Commencement, and organizes social events. If you have aHarvard affilia-
tion and are not nowamember, please let us know!
Write:
HGSC/ POBox 381809 / Cambridge,MA 02238-1809
E-mail:
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