As a man of science I have spent a fair amount of time trying to justify the purpose of my existence within my own belief system, while also considering how it might fit into those of others. As a gay man, some would argue that I have no purpose because my sexual preferences point me in a direction that does not bare offspring. Some believe that I’m something disgusting, poisonous, and even contagious. Some believe that because I’m different in this one particular way, I am something unnatural and hateful in the eyes of their god. But people can only believe what’s in their means of understanding, and we often default to the explanation that fits most comfortably into our world views without disturbing the framework thereof. Thankfully, the field of science often refuses to let us languish in our comfort zones.
For a long time, my own personal belief had been that homosexuals existed as a means of population control. As the world, or perhaps a smaller community gets overcrowded, some kind of genetic trigger goes off in a percentage of individuals. We are still fully functional human beings, given the biological inclination to satisfy our human needs for sexual and social intimacy in a way that doesn’t add to the overpopulation problems in the world. Keep in mind I’m no expert in this field, nor am I particularly well read – in fact, putting it in writing I realize it was pretty naïve.
Nonetheless this was my working theory, one that fit into my own limited understanding - though I knew it couldn’t be correct for a number of reasons. For one, the percentage of gay people in the world is not increasing at a rate that would be useful in capping the Earth’s population – in fact, estimates nowadays are showing our 10% is more like 6% or even lower, while the greater population continues to grow exponentially. Furthermore, the theory of evolution would have homosexuality as a genetic trigger eliminated from our species long ago, simply because we are not passing those genes along to the next generation. That homosexuality still exists today would imply there is some kind of evolutionary advantage to keeping it around, though if we’re not the ones perpetuating it, who is? Even if members of our minority do succumb to societal pressures and bare offspring with someone of the opposite sex, I get the impression that the biological children of gay men and women are no more likely to turn out gay than we were. If that is truly the case, how can we be carrying a “gay gene” if it is not being effectively passed on?
To be honest, I had not resolved these inconsistencies in my own mind, and couldn’t even say I particularly liked my bleak explanation. The beauty of science is that I’m obligated to keep an open mind, and that I’m welcome to hold onto my theory until a better explanation comes along – one that describes and predicts more accurately what we actually see happening in the world around us.
Recently I was directed by one of Steve’s sisters to read an article in Psychology Today that talked about some of the latest breakthroughs in the scientific understanding of why homosexuality exists. I have to admit, it really shook up my understanding, and absolutely for the better. I forwarded the article to Kevin Alderson, who I hope will weigh in on the topic with better authority at some future point, but I wanted to discuss it here from a layman’s point of view.
To summarize what was stated in this article, it seems this is further confirmation that homosexuality is part genetic and part hormonal. But the innovation has come in the realization that the occurrence of homosexuality seems to be linked to the occurrence of larger families – a genetic predisposition of the mother to be able and willing to bare more children throughout her lifetime. Furthermore, a male child is supposedly more likely to be gay the more older brothers he has, hinting at some kind of resistance that the mother may build up when carrying male children. Keep in mind, this newer theory only explains about a third of the gay population, and is based mostly on studies involving gay males. It was stated that homosexuality is likely a common outcome of many possible factors in the womb, of which other explanations have yet to be discovered.
Though I myself am an only child, I have a large number of cousins on both sides of my family. During my mother’s pregnancy, there were two failed fetuses that emerged before me – very possibly brothers. Some pieces definitely fell into place for me personally while reading this. Certainly now, my mental cogs are spinning over all the implications that come from these new discoveries, even if these hypotheses are not yet fully developed or proven.
They shift the idea of a “gay gene” in the offspring to a “man-loving gene” in the mother, which gives an evolutionary advantage far exceeding the drawback of producing offspring that do not carry the bloodline further. This certainly shoots down the religious-right’s theory that homosexuality exists to destroy the human race by interfering with the natural course of reproduction. If it wasn’t clear before it certainly is now, that homosexuality is indeed natural – a byproduct of something that is very beneficial to the continuance of our species. But I’m still a little confused…does this mean we are Danny DeVito to the straight world’s Arnold Schwartzenegger?
Maybe not. I would argue that being a man with some “feminine” traits, or a woman with some “masculine” traits, still fills a niche that straight men and woman would be hard pressed to survive without. Imagine the benefit to the single mother of many children, having a son that is willing to help take care of his siblings rather than running off to war like his other brothers? Imagine the benefit to a child of having a mother that can better defend it from the many dangers in the world, without succumbing to aggressive males that are a big part of that danger. These are just two examples that come to me readily – I’m sure there are many more. The point is, this new development has lead me to realize that gays and lesbians still have a vital purpose in the survival of our species, as much as some small-minded individuals may hate to admit it.
I’m eager to see how this research develops. The more that science can divulge about why we exist, the less wiggle room anti-gay extremists will have to make bogus claims to sully our reputation. Today they may protest that our existence opposes the will of God, or the course of nature. But to prove beyond a doubt that gays and lesbians are a deliberate outcome of nature, thus a purposeful creation of God, would flip the entire gay debate on its head. Most importantly, such external validation might help the downtrodden to recover their sense of self worth, and the ashamed to stop fighting their biology.
So, in my mind I’ve discovered something new about myself to be proud of – and maybe this resonates with you too. I’m no longer a lottery winner for population control, but someone who has been favoured to change the world for the better during my lifetime. Perhaps I’m not here to bring about new life, but instead to take better care of what we already have. If this is my purpose, then I smile peacefully as I say, “don’t anyone dare get in my way!”
No matter what you believe, I hope you also find what you need to understand you hold an important place in the world. This month is Pride Month in both Calgary and Edmonton, and it seems to me like this feeling is something to celebrate!
Last Month
This May was the silence before the storm – fairly sparse at the beginning, with a very busy wrap up thanks to Fairytales!
I started things off at the Pride Prince/Princess Pageant – a competition designed to select a single individual from the community that best embodied this year’s spirit of Pride. Sig Moser organized and hosted the event, and a panel of judges decided the winner. Contestants were given the opportunity to show off their talents on stage, but also faced a volley of questions about what Pride means to them. At the conclusion of the event, Auntie Pattie (aka. Patrick) was crowned Pride Princess 2008.
Skip ahead two weeks and I was photographing at the Investitures ceremony for our new Emperor and Empress. Some battery troubles had me panicking mid-way through the evening, but thanks to Matt I was able to get my problems sorted out and back to photographing without much disruption. Nina and Ashley gave out a number of fun titles to members of the community, including ourselves, now “Lords of Prints, Pics, and Publicity”!
The next weekend was Pride Calgary’s “Show Your Colours” dance, hosted at the intimate South Calgary Community Hall. Then a few days later, Steve and I went out for dinner at Gypsy Rose in support of SHARP Foundation for their annual Taste for Life fundraiser, before proceeding to the Fairytales Opening Gala film.
Steve left to Edmonton two days later for the ISCWR’s Coronation weekend, so it was up to me to photograph at a number of the Fairytales screenings and events. I started off by going to see “Boystown”, a wonderfully entertaining Spanish film with English subtitles, and some smoking hot actors! The day after I saw “She’s a Boy I Knew” (Mercedes has an article in this month where she interviews the director), and the much anticipated “Mulligans” which had me both laughing and sobbing. The organizers commented that most of their shows were dangerously close to selling out, so that really speaks to the success of this year’s festival.
The brunch next morning with Charlie David and Thea Gill was completely sold out – there were only two tickets left by the end of the “Mulligans” screening, so they didn’t stand a chance of not getting snapped up! While there, I chatted for a bit with the creator of House of Venus, and bumped into Mr. Pam, director of “eXposed: The Making of a Legend”, which we had already reviewed in the November 2007 edition of our magazine. Even though it was just a brief encounter, she was really cool to talk to – always friendly and giddy with laughter. She wasn’t shy to take photographs of two shirtless constructions workers taking a break across the road from the Siding Café…I hid while she did this. Though I still want those pictures, Pam!
Later that night, I found out what the “twist” was, at this month’s ARGRA Dance - the last one before the rodeo. The organizers put on a couple of mini-rodeo events that were a total blast! The first was Goat Dressing, where ARGRA Trustee Pierre Cadieux played the part of the goat – dressed in fun-fur and everything. Competitors raced to put a pair of underwear on him (over his jeans), and Kevin Boyce was pretty rough taking them back off afterward. Even with the mats, he should have worn some knee pads! Next was pole bending, where participants had to weave between a row of poles (under the influence of alcohol, to boot) while riding a horse-head-on-a-stick. Finally came the barrel racing, where participants had to run between three barrels and rotate around them with the butt of a baseball bat to their forehead. Naturally this made them dizzy and weave all over the place while running. I think that Shane and Caffee were the final winners, which was impressive since Caffee was in drag and high heels.
Last month we expanded to 80 pages for the first time in the history of our magazine – until previously, our biggest issues had been 72-pagers. Lots of people have commented that they were impressed with the number of celebrity interviews we managed to land. The trend continues into this month, with Jully Black, Dallas Green, Margaret Cho and…oh yeah, cover girl KD Lang! In addition, they’re not celebrities per se, but we’re proud to feature interviews this month with the Mayors of both Calgary and Edmonton! It’s really exciting that these new doors are open to us, but we are mindful not to get too carried away. As always, we have plenty of community content to balance things out.
Next Month
Right now I can’t even fathom how we’re going to survive through two Prides and ARGRA over the course of 4 weeks. After Calgary’s Pride, I will get to join Steve in Edmonton for their Pride – going up there may be routine for Steve, but I’m quite looking forward to visiting our sister city again. Then we get to camp out at Symon’s Valley Ranch for ARGRA, and let me tell you we have our work cut out for us this year! We’re doing something special on the rodeo grounds this year, so keep an eye out.
On top of it all, we’re running the Rodeo Bus again, with a number of changes to work out the kinks from previous years. The schedule is very different, so if you’re planning to ride, make sure you refer to it and plan ahead. Bus trips are arranged to coincide with events on the rodeo grounds, rather than on a bi-hourly schedule. To make things simpler, there is no longer a round-trip cost – it will be $10 per direction to ride. This is still far cheaper than cab fare, which can run you between $40 and $60 per direction. Finally, passengers be aware that the bus will no longer be stopping in the main parking lot at Symon’s Valley as it has previously done; instead, the lower parking lot will be the pickup and drop-off location. This lot can be accessed by the service road that wraps around to the back of Driftwood hall, as well as the pedestrian path behind the main RV Park.
For more information, view the ad on page 34, visit www.gaycalgary.com/Promotions/RodeoBus.aspx, or look for the posters and postcards that will be available soon at participating stops in town.
GayCalgary Online
As promised, we launched the new version of the GayCalgary website in mid May, and many of you may be seeing it for the first time as you hop online to download this edition. Much of it was an upgrade in appearance and presentation to be more widely browser-friendly (even for mobile devices), however a number of new features were included in this release. Take a moment to browse the site and see what has changed.
We are dedicating this month to sorting through our photo archives and getting as much of them online as we can, within our busy event schedule. The photo area probably got the biggest overhaul with the launch of the new site, and with a user account you can now build your own personal album of photo favourites.
The online poll question last month asked “Are you supportive of Paul Vickers’ initiative to open a new GLBT dance club in Calgary?” We saw the results shift from 77% yes, 13% no, 10% unsure before the May Edition came out, to its final total of 84% yes, 10% no, 6% unsure at the end of May. Next month we’ll have a number of new poll questions, so make sure you cast your vote when you arrive at the main page of the site.
Lastly, it’s been something Steve and I have discussed for several years now and just shortly after the June Edition hits the streets we’re finally going to do it. With a business name like ours, being listed in the phonebook makes us a natural first point of contact for people seeking community information in both Calgary and Edmonton. While all this is available in the magazine and online, the people who phone us are tourists, closeted individuals, or people that don’t have a private internet connection, or don’t yet know where they can find a copy of the magazine. While Steve and I have fielded phone calls from our home, and have been happy to read out our community listings (even at 3 in the morning), people have been plain out of luck if we are out at an event or insisting on getting our sleep. That’s why we’re launching a special voice messaging system so that these callers can access the community information they need even when we’re not around to help them personally. It is a menu-driven phone system that can read out information, take voicemail messages, and even forward calls. Among other things, it will contain a watered down selection of listings for key businesses, non-profit groups, and events. We’re definitely excited, if only so that we can finally get some undisturbed rest with the ringer turned off!
We want to hear what YOU have to say about the topics in this article, and any other articles in our magazine. Visit the chat forums at www.gaycalgary.com and write your heart out! Or write us a letter to the publisher by E-mailing publisher@gaycalgary.com, and we may publish or respond to it in the magazine!
