Judge Not The Judge

Ray Kerrison's New York Post column of May 23 [1985], entitled "Gay Judge is a Mockery of Moral Code," brought to mind a song recorded by the black gay singer Blackberri, "When Will the Ignorance End?"

Kerrison expressed his objection to Mayor Edward I. Koch's appointment of Richard Failla to the Criminal Court bench, because Failla is an openly gay man--and for no other reason. Never mind that the man  graduated from Columbia Law School and, in Koch's words, has "a distinguished record as a lawyer," which includes being an Assistant District Attorney in New York County (Manhattan).

Somehow, male homosexuals frighten and threaten staunch homophobes like Kerrison. Is his masculinity so fragile? Does he fear being a latent homosexual? Does the fact that Failla openly "kissed his male lover" without guilt or shame make the Kerrisons of this world uncomfortable, because Failla has a lover and does not fit the stereotype of the pitiful, weak, and lonely gay man?

And how does one equate, as Kerrison does, being a gay man with being "a woman who solicits a man for a sexual act and cash"? (Nowhere in the piece does he speak against lesbians, so I guess it's all right to be one. Of course, he's never heard of male hustlers, who do get paid for having sex. Kerrison confuses sexual orientation with a profession of one's choice.) There is promiscuity among gay men, but it also exists among straight men. Kerrison chooses to ignore that fact. If there is "a violent reassertion of the old double standard," it involves society's difference in attitude and treatment of gay men. Homosexuality was made into a crime by men. As we all know, men are fallible and laws are changeable. He points out that homosexuality is "an 'abomination' as defined by the Bible" and that, as "a layman with no expertise, the Bible wins out." Maybe he needs too talk with some gay and lesbian theologians, who would seriously challenge the "abomination" theory.

Kerrison's comments would be laughable, if the consequences of his words weren't so dangerous. These asinine beliefs feed into the already pervasive homophobia in this and other societies. The message is clear: Gays are immoral, no better than hookers, therefore it's all right to go out in the streets and beat up a few.

The whole piece is designed to make gay men continue to feel guilt and self-hatred. It's a way of saying, "Go back into your closets." If we fall for it, we deserve the consequences.

This article was originally published in the New York Native (August 11-25, 1985). It was an item in a "Media Watch" column I wrote for the paper.