During my junior year of college I took a course entitled Masculinity and Femininity in German Film. As a chemistry major, I didn't often find my way out of the science building, but when I had the opportunity to take a sociology or fem-gen (that would be feminist and gender studies) class, I jumped at the chance. And obviously, I couldn't resist one taught by the illustrious Imke Meyer, purveyor of the best German dyke hair on campus and never without her denim jacket, Levis, and black boots. Ah, Imke... starry-eyed women followed her in droves, I swear- she was the Pied Piper of the German department! (yeah, I just equated queer undergrads with rats... sorry)So in Imke's class we screened some amazing German films. I was introduced to the earth-shattering Louise Brooks for the first time in Pandora's Box. And by the end of the course, we were watching more modern fair including the film that the title of this post takes it name from, Taxi zum Klo, or Taxi to the Toilet. This film depicted the story of a gay man cruising for sex in the public toilets of West Berlin. I wrote my final paper for the course contrasting scenes of domesticity with scenes of cruising with the thesis that the director, Frank Ripploh, sought to argue that both exist as homosexual lifestyles and that they are not mutually exclusive.
With that back-story in mind, let's talk about Larry Craig. If you've been living under a rock for the last few days, Larry Craig (R-Idaho) has been doing his best Mr. Hand impression on CNN, proclaiming his non-gayness after news aired that he had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor indecency charge stemming from playing footsie and propositioning an under-cover police officer in a men's room in the Minneapolis Airport. Senator Craig mistakenly thought that if he plead guilty that this little incident would just go away- obviously it hasn't and now he's claiming that he did nothing wrong and it was a big mistake to take a plea. A man who is a US Senator didn't retain counsel and is now whining about some miscarriage of justice. Yeah, I know. Dumb. Oh, and I should mention that Senator Craig has a 0% voting record on gay rights issues, including voting for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and voting multiple times to exclude sexual orientation from hate crimes legislation. Hypocritical much?
And, what, you may ask, does Larry Craig have to do with an erotic German comedy from the 1980s? Based on his voting record, Senator Craig does not believe that queer individuals deserve the basic rights afforded to all Americans to enjoy life, liberty, and the like. Based on his behavior, Senator Craig uses cruising to engage his closeted feelings in an anonymous way without the necessity of having a real relationship. Larry Craig does not allow himself (or maybe does not believe he deserves) those scenes of domesticity, and therefore, does not believe that the rest of the queer community deserves to have them. Senator Craig, I don't care that you would rather cruise than have a life with someone of the same sex, but don't keep me from having both my sexuality and my rights and humanity.
1 comment:
Ha ha ha; Imke might have good "dyke hair" but she's no good dyke; she exploits students for her "psychological experiments" but can't handle things like students themselves, human rights, etc. Basically, she's a perp who exploits her students for her own ends. For example, she destroyed my entire career just because, on the basis of real and documented information, I could accuse her of sexual harassement. She also destroyed my trust, respect for the profession, and other things along the way. She's a perp; I'd urge you not to rely on anything she's said or wrote any more. She uses the films she shows as only another seduction mechanism. PLEASE, PLEASE, don't trust her. She's absolutely not worth it.
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