Austin Motel
Applauds 'Brokeback Mountain'
RECEIVED Mon., Dec. 19, 2005
Dear Editor,
Brokeback Mountain has morphed into much more than just a movie [Film Listings, Dec. 16]. Newspaper/magazine, TV coverage, Web sites, blogs, etc., have brought it into the national debate on gay civil rights. While the details differ for each of us, the film's story also gives witness to our lives, emotions, and obstacles still to be faced and overcome.
For me it all began in a small Texas town, Killeen, 1960. We were both 16 and in high school. He was later elected senior class president and captain of the football team. I was shy and read a lot. With no examples to follow, we relied on our instincts, making it up as we went along.
He went off to college and even got engaged to our hometown cheerleader. Two months before his 20th birthday he died in a car crash en route to NTSU. As for myself, I've become like the Fisher King, marked by “the wound that never heals.”
Over the past four decades I've noted just a paltry change in society's and the law's homophobia. The recent passage of Proposition 2, the latest “Nuremberg Law,” continues to reinforce the position of gays as second-class citizens. Though Travis was the only county out of 254 to vote down the constitutional amendment against gay marriage, there are issues here as well. Recent court trials for physical assaults and even murder serve as constant reminders that being gay puts our lives at added risk.
I doubt that the movie will by itself bring about any significant positive change in gay human rights. But then I appreciate and applaud Brokeback Mountain for its core portrayal of two men in love (romantic and sexual) against all odds.
Brokeback Mountain has morphed into much more than just a movie [Film Listings, Dec. 16]. Newspaper/magazine, TV coverage, Web sites, blogs, etc., have brought it into the national debate on gay civil rights. While the details differ for each of us, the film's story also gives witness to our lives, emotions, and obstacles still to be faced and overcome.
For me it all began in a small Texas town, Killeen, 1960. We were both 16 and in high school. He was later elected senior class president and captain of the football team. I was shy and read a lot. With no examples to follow, we relied on our instincts, making it up as we went along.
He went off to college and even got engaged to our hometown cheerleader. Two months before his 20th birthday he died in a car crash en route to NTSU. As for myself, I've become like the Fisher King, marked by “the wound that never heals.”
Over the past four decades I've noted just a paltry change in society's and the law's homophobia. The recent passage of Proposition 2, the latest “Nuremberg Law,” continues to reinforce the position of gays as second-class citizens. Though Travis was the only county out of 254 to vote down the constitutional amendment against gay marriage, there are issues here as well. Recent court trials for physical assaults and even murder serve as constant reminders that being gay puts our lives at added risk.
I doubt that the movie will by itself bring about any significant positive change in gay human rights. But then I appreciate and applaud Brokeback Mountain for its core portrayal of two men in love (romantic and sexual) against all odds.
Danny Camacho
