Thursday, February 22, 2007

Where Did the Words "Gay" and "Lesbian" Go?

Have you seen the posters on CTA buses and trains for the Howard Brown Health Center?

This image to the left isn't the poster I'm talking about. This is the cover of their Annual Report, but it will do.

Maybe I'm overly sensitive and overly critical of them...

...I did go to Howard Brown once to have my blood drawn for an HIV test only to return two weeks later and have my doctor open the results and say...

"Well, they tested your blood for everything EXCEPT HIV.

Look at this way - - you don't have lupus!"

That being said, take a look at the cover of their Annual Report.

Now, for those of you who have seen it, think of those CTA ads. They are filled with fun, young people in different positions with lists of all of the things that Howard Brown does for the community like "case management, youth center, drug and alcohol treatment," etc., etc., etc.

Nowhere, but nowhere on that ad does it say anything about or mention the word GAY or LESBIAN or BISEXUAL or TRANSGENDER. Nowhere.

It may say "LGBT" but that's about it.

And on the cover of their Annual Report, it doesn't even say LGBT!

Inside this annual report, it says...

"The mission of Howard Brown is to promote the well- being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons through the provision of health care and wellness programs, including clinical, educational, social service and research activities."

I know the word "fag" is too scary to print these days for some fucking reason, but is Howard Brown too scared to print the words "gay" or "lesbian" or "transgender" on their ads seen by the public at large?

Or do they just not want to make the "straights" uncomfortable?

5 comments:

Bea said...

Did somebody say "LUPUS"?

Anonymous said...

I had occasion to drive past HB the other day, and thought it interesting that in appearance it resembled all of the Tool & Die shops in Warren, Michigan - sort of brown, kind of grey, lacking in any color other than slightly-dirty, showing absolutely no indication of what kind of activity might go on behind the facade. The Rad raises an interesting point - are we protecting the delicate constitutions of someone(s)?

Stephen R. said...

Angel - "Once an 80's fag, always an 80's fag," indeed!!

I understand your point and can sympathize to a point, but these days "words" seem to be going backward instead of forward.

Our entire world, language included, is turning into a suburban iHop - - the same old, same old all over with nothing unique in case someone gets offended.

You know what I say to that? FUCK 'EM! :)

P.S. Anytime you want to come see me full of Seuss, just let me know and I'll comp you in!

Aaron - Remember when we were "fags?" Remember sex at rest stops? Remember pasta?

Anonymous said...

How DARE you mention "pasta" to ME! After all these years of my self-imposed self-denial, how DARE you! And you typed the word "spaghetti" today, too, didn't you? Vampires are NOT scary, Rader. CARBS are scary.

I my day, we said "faggot." We were very careful with our pronunciation. I understand that language, and indeed diction, isn't prized here in Chicagoland. It has been brought to my attention. But I never, EVER had sex at a rest stop. Dammit.

Stephen R. said...

Aaron - You may not have had sex "at" at rest stop, but "in" a rest stop?

Come on. Back in the day, they were like Homosexual Candy Stores - - huge boxes of chocolate called "glory holes," out of which all shapes and sizes of penises would pop.

As Forest Gump said, "Life is like a glory hole - - you never know what you're gonna get."