Interview with Luke Sissyfag

                                                                                                                                                                  Vol. VII, No. 9, November 1994

[Yes, he really changed his name to Luke Sissyfag. Here is an unusual opportunity to read the views of a 20-year-old militant homosexual. This article is excerpted from an interview which appeared in the July 1994 issue of Rutherford, the monthly journal of The Rutherford Institute, P.O. Box 7482, Charlottesville, VA 22906-7482.]

You talk about increased research, but what about focusing on education and changing behavior?

I don't think those things are important. We're 13 years into this plague, and condoms have not stopped AIDS. This war is not going to be won on the prevention front. The only way we are going to win is with research.

Can't we combine both research and changing behavior?

We can; it takes a marriage of both. But as far as the gay community is concerned, they have been educated. Gay men know about safe sex.

But their behavior is not changing.

Exactly. Education is not working.

What about the argument that this disease is a product of behavior, and that the government should not subsidize high-risk behaviors?

AIDS (and the gay community will deny this up and down) is a gay disease. AIDS is because fags are having unprotected sex and lots of it. That's why fags have AIDS.

So you would just say, "Continue in that lifestyle, but improve research."

No. I would say, "Don't continue." But the messages of practicing safer sex and using a condom every time have fallen on deaf ears in the gay community.

Why?

The gay community is fundamentally concerned with issues of validation. The gay community sees AIDS as a public relations problem in the way of civil rights. Translated, that means they just want mommy and daddy and straight America to accept us. The gay community has dealt with AIDS in much the same way they have dealt with drag queens: "That's not us. We're not all like that. " We've invested enormous amounts of energy, time, and resources into saying that AIDS is not a gay disease.

So, in general, the gay community's interest is more in acceptance by society than actually helping people who are dying.

Right. Our largest national organization, the Human Rights Campaign Fund, just fired its only AIDS staff person. They have 40 staff and a budget of $6 million. There has been no concerted political effort on behalf of the gay community to fight AIDS.

Why? Is the homosexual community just denying AIDS?

There is a lot of denial. In most urban areas, 50 percent of gay men are infected and are going to die. That's hard to deal with. We've got to keep hammering it in over and over and over – AIDS is killing fags. A man walks down the street with his lover, who weighs ten pounds, has purple splotches on his face, and is confined to a wheelchair, and the man will be saying, "AIDS isn't a gay disease." That's not true. People are saying it's everyone's disease. That's nonsense. The popular response to AIDS is: "I'll wear a red ribbon. I'll look at a quilt." But when it comes down to actual policy changes, nothing happens. Wearing a ribbon won't stop AIDS. Dragging a stupid quilt across the country won't stop AIDS. ...

How did all of this (his AIDS work) start?

Two friends of mine were HIV positive when I was 16. I knew that something needed to be done, so I moved to Seattle and worked for two years with ACT-UP getting condoms into schools.

But you said before you don't feel like condoms are the answer.

I don't. That was two years ago, and I've changed my mind. I'm only twenty. AIDS activism has now become my entire life. Gays are a bunch of wimps. No one is willing to speak up. If it weren't for AIDS, would I really care about the gay community? Probably not. They don't support people who are really "out" like me. They say, "You're ruining our image." The truth about gay people is that we are perverts. I have sex with men. I love it. That makes me a pervert. We do violate and go against everything that is straight, white, male America....

Do you think the gay community has done a good job of using language to define its goals?

No. The gay community is afraid of being gay. That's why gay people fought the "sexual" in homosexual. They don't want people thinking about what they do in bed.

Acceptance seems to be an important homosexual theme.

And it is such a non-issue. They want to be in the Boy Scouts. It has nothing to do with any real civil rights needs. The gay community is trying to turn the world into a support group because of their own emotional inadequacies and because they don't feel comfortable with being gay. They are dying. They are not even going to be around to take part in that support group. Domestic partnerships can wait. We've had 2000 anti-gay years. We have people in D.C. working on this gay rights nonsense and not working on AIDS activism. Life is the most important civil right. It's a waste of time to focus on making homosexuality acceptable. It will happen naturally. It's going to be a cultural change. We need to push that. More and more people are coming out. Being gay is not a big deal. Whining about homophobia is ridiculous. I can tell you from my vantage point, from a person who changed his name to Sissyfag, who wears lipstick and barrettes, and is a little nellie queen, homophobia is not an issue.

How do you feel about special ordinances designating homosexuality as a civil right?

Who cares? It's really not important. If the world were a perfect place – everyone liked gays and lesbians, it was sunny every day, and there was world peace – then that would be nice. But that's not reality. I say being gay is the greatest thing on earth, and I am so glad I' m a fag. Stop whining.

You call these ordinances and cultural trends "non-issues," but to those of us interested in preserving the traditional family structure, a strong gay community that encourages gay marriages and mocks traditional values is a threat.

Gender is the most pervasive illness in society. Transsexuality, homosexuality, the breaking down of traditional confining, suffocating gender roles and constructs is a threat to the family and male domination. But gender is bizarre and ridiculous. ...

What do you think about the gay pride parades?

What's there to be proud of? I'm embarrassed by the gay community. I'm horrified. I'm angered.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Hopefully, I'll be alive.

Do you think a lot about dying? Is that a very real thought?

Yeah.

Do you know if you have AIDS? Have you tried to find out?

I'm scared. It's pure fear. I know I should.

That fear has to give you a tremendous urgency to take action.

For me, growing up gay in the '80s, the constant joke was, "What do you call a gay in a wheelchair? Roll-AIDS." AIDS is very much a part of my identity as a gay man. Written on my mind is the idea of "You are a fag. You are going to die of AIDS." That motivates me.

There's been talk of re-opening the bathhouses in San Francisco, and there seems to be a kind of apathy that has set in regarding AIDS. What's going on? Are people just adopting a fatalistic attitude?

They are. And the consequence of gay irresponsibility, both sexually and politically, is death. It's very simple.

Do you think the whole movement is going to self-destruct?

I don't think there will be a gay movement in 10 years. The gay community will be mostly gone. There will be lesbians around, but I don't really believe in the "gay and lesbian community" anyway....

The Rutherford Institute is a fairly conservative organization. Why did you agree to talk with us?

I just wanted to get the message out that nothing is being done about AIDS. And the visibility is good, even if it's negative. It gets the issue discussed. In terms of getting homosexuality accepted on a cultural level, discussion is the first step past non-existence. Then we can call for tolerance and acceptance. What I want to say to the readers of your magazine is that AIDS is everyone's responsibility. I've lambasted the gay community for their actions. But everyone has a responsibility to work for a solution. As Christians, ignoring needless suffering and needless death is a sin.

What is your general opinion of Christians and their response to AIDS?

I think most of them just say it's a disease for faggots and who cares what happens to them. I care. Christians in America aren't living up to God's word.

What do you think about Mel White and his homosexual Cathedral of Hope in Dallas?

He's an idiot

Why?

The Bible specifically says it is a sin or an abomination for a man to lay with another man like another woman. The Bible is antigay, it does not say anything supportive of gay people.

So you'd say just leave the issue alone.

That's God's word. There is no way around it. Gay people need to quit whining about how Jesus loves us. Not according to the Bible. So, quit whining about it. This Mel White guy is a waste of time.

He's got a pretty strong following, something like 2,000 followers.

How many people killed themselves at Jonestown? Who cares? Mass idiocy doesn't make it right. If something is wrong, it is wrong. I could care less whether Jesus loves me or not because I love myself. The gay Christian movement is hysterical. Christians know it's bogus. I know it's bogus. Who are they fooling? Nobody. I think that is totally the wrong direction in which to move. What the gay community needs to do is to establish that it is great to be gay. To be a fag, to be a dyke is cool. It's not the end-all and be-all of life, but it's not anything to be ashamed of.

If it's so cool, then are you saying it's something everyone needs to look into?

No, not at all. You are what you are. I don't care. And another thing that bothers me is this nonsense about homosexuality being biological. Come on! What's next? Playing golf is biological? It is so silly. It is all about trying to say, "We didn't do anything to be like this. It's bad genes." Why am I gay? Ultimately, I'm going to say I chose it. This is all about people being able to choose to be who they are. This whole biological idea is just a crock of garbage.

So when you say it's about being able to choose who you are, it's really about being able to choose what you do.

Right. I am attracted to men. I don't know if that's biological, I don't know if it's social. It feels good, and I'm going to go with it. I don't think I should try to justify myself saying it's because of my blood. It's self-defeating. The gay community is looking for validation, but they are going about it in all the wrong ways. Trying to justify yourself is the antithesis of validation. I choose to be gay. I choose to be out. It's a dead argument.