Hutchins Discusses Gay-Rights Movement

Citing her personal experiences, bisexual activist and author Lorraine Hutchins warned against labeling and oversimplification in the gay, lesbian and bisexual movement at a speech before an audience of about 30 in Harvard Hall last night.

Hutchins, whose speech was entitled "Bi Aloud, Bi And Proud--Transcending the Limits of Identity Politics and Binary Thinking to Create Queer Family Values for Everyone," is the co-editor of Bi Any Other Name, a collection of essays and literary pieces by bisexuals, and is a longtime activist for gay, lesbian and bisexual rights.

"All choices can be equally respected," Hutchins said. "One choice doesn't have to be good and one choice doesn't have to be bad."

Hutchins applauded the achievements of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender movements. But she warned against gay-rights activism becoming fragmented.

"I am not going to follow...any movement that says, 'Here's another little box that we're going to divide up the world with," Hutchins said. "There is beauty in diversity."

Identities can be as limiting as they are liberating. Hutchins said, and it is imperative to find the gray area between the two.

"The more that bisexuals come out and talk, the more space it opens up for people to speak honestly and to talk about what divides us," Hutchins said.

Yesterday was the 27th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Hutchins noted. She addressed the frequent comparison of the gay, lesbian and bisexual rights movement with the movement for racial equality in the 1960's.

"The assassination of Martin Luther King rippedapart my world," Hutchins told the audience. "Itwoke me up from my life of complacency andprivilege."

"But it frightens and angers me to hear peoplecall the bisexual, gay and lesbian movement 'thecivil rights movement of the '90s," because itimplies that the civil rights movement is over,she added.

Instead of comparing the two movements,Hutchins highlighted their alliances. "Mixed-racepeople and bisexuals transcend the polarities,"she offered, as one example of similaritiesbetween members of the two groups.

Hutchins also cited the civil rights movementas a catalyst in her own personal development asan activist. "When I was in college there was noQueen Nation, no gay bookstores, but there was thecivil rights movement, and it taught me to fight,"she said. "It gave me faith.

"The assassination of Martin Luther King rippedapart my world," Hutchins told the audience. "Itwoke me up from my life of complacency andprivilege."

"But it frightens and angers me to hear peoplecall the bisexual, gay and lesbian movement 'thecivil rights movement of the '90s," because itimplies that the civil rights movement is over,she added.

Instead of comparing the two movements,Hutchins highlighted their alliances. "Mixed-racepeople and bisexuals transcend the polarities,"she offered, as one example of similaritiesbetween members of the two groups.

Hutchins also cited the civil rights movementas a catalyst in her own personal development asan activist. "When I was in college there was noQueen Nation, no gay bookstores, but there was thecivil rights movement, and it taught me to fight,"she said. "It gave me faith.