书籍介绍
The groundbreaking work on being homosexual in America—available again only from Penguin Classics and with a new foreword by Dan Savage Originally published in 1971, Merle Miller’s On Being Different is a pioneering and thought-provoking book about being homosexual in the United States. Just two years after the Stonewall riots, Miller wrote a poignant essay for the New York Times Magazine entitled “What It Means To Be a Homosexual” in response to a homophobic article published in Harper’s Magazine . Described as “the most widely read and discussed essay of the decade,” it carried the seed that would blossom into On Being Different —one of the earliest memoirs to affirm the importance of coming out.
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兩篇很長的文章附上一些appendices，很快就看完了。Merle Miller在上世紀能說出這樣的話真的不容易。雖然現在homos&bis以及作者在當時還未意識到的其他性向者的處境相比上世紀70年代已有很大改進，「遠古」的觀點在網路上仍是屢見不鮮(e.g. They prefer to think it doesn’t exist, but if it does, at least keep quiet about it.)。希望於有生之年可以看見自己生活的地方會有像書中所描繪的那樣的改變吧。之後想看一寫關於paedophilia的作品。
本以为写于五十年前可能会有点过时，打开一读发现，Miller感到愤怒的地方不就是当今国内多数LGBT群体的日常体验吗？打起精神，我们还有好长的路要走。
“I would never consider a person healthy unless he had overcome his prejudice against homosexuality.” —— George Weinberg
it gets better.
Though I do feel we’re also undergoing a revolution in the public attitude towards the LGBT community, we need some figures like him to fuel the campaign faster and deeper. Also, sexual orientation is but a single dimension of the social identities. It is thus important for us to be aware of discriminations within the group.
Charles Kaiser写的Afterword和来自Merle生前好友的Appendix c尤其感人。毫无疑问这是一次彻底的革命，也是一次勇敢的征程，在途中无数的勇者倒下，然而后来者仍是前仆后继，越战越勇，总算迎来曙光，读的过程总是想起when we rise，其实无论种族、肤色还是性取向，这些种种问题归根结底都是human rights issue，生而为人。