An Interview with Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore in OIA.

Tye Anderson of OIA (Out In Asherville) has done a splendid interview with Mattilda. The title “Reasons Not to Participate in Your Own “Cultural Erasure,” goes right to the heart of my thinking. Many of us stand up and speak out when those on the outside try to erase, deny, suppress, and omit us and many of us do the same when our own and ourselves do it too. It has got to be this way, it is a matter of survival for all of our people.

 Many articles on QWB have spoken out about this trend. With assimilation, backs are turned on many of our people, the “we got ours now go get yours,” the “those people are an embarrassment to us and our lifestyle”, “the those people,” the “they are not one of us,” becomes the norm.  Some very scary words were spoken by the Vice President of the Harvey Milk Club concerning the crowd at the HRC dinner. She compared them to the rich elite in Nazi Germany watching, as she was being roughed up and dragged out by the goons of HRC.  Oh, yes, when the shit hits the fan they will be silent, as political queers, gender non-conforming queers, queers of color, undocumented queers, and any and all who do not fit the assimilationist dream are dragged out. They don’t speak up now. Why would they speak up then? By then their transformation will be completed, they will be the enemy.  Their face will be their face all in one the enemy.

It worries me today that so much of the LGBT communities money and energy is going into the marriage issue at the expense of so many other causes. This one issue crap is really a wrong road. I fear it is and will be just like Mattilda is saying. We see it here in Hartford all the time when we try to get the mainstream G & L to participate in ‘Other’ programs, ‘other events,’ other concerns.’ We see it in many of our groups who have grabbed on to their own one issue reality at the expense of all others. We have really lost and are are losing our true movement and our community daily. We quickly are losing our soul. 

“Reasons not to Participate in your own “Cultural Erasure” is a must read for anyone who is concerned with the assimilationist movement.  Mattilda says in the interview, “So, where we have the people with the most access to power deciding what everyone else needs, and saying the most ridiculous kind of rhetoric like, “Oh well now we’re finally full citizens”–meaning for the richest white gays and lesbians with nice stock portfolios. If that is their main concern then sure, gay marriage, might be this last thing that they need, this tax break. But the whole rhetoric around who belongs, the whole thing about citizenship, it’s like…did you happen to notice that one of the biggest issues going on in the U.S. right now is about undocumented people being forced out based on their citizenship status? While at the same time these people are like, we’ve solved these issues.” RIGHT ON, RIGHT ON, RIGHT ON!!

Read the interview, click here and if you haven’t yet, get a book by Mattilda. Her newest book “So Many Ways to Sleep Badly” is coming out October 28 and published by City Lights. Through City Lights I have an advance copy coming in the mail, someday this week. Can’t wait to sink my mind into it.  Thanks Mattilda for your voice in these times!