It is time to whisper the truth that dare not speak its name. This being so, it’s time that we liberated ourselves from outmoded forms of repressed truthfulness. If we take the trouble to unmask the myths surrounding Wilde, we discover a man who was never comfortable with the homosexual lifestyle and a man who described his homosexual predilections as a “pathology.” Indeed, and to court real controversy by using the sexually “correct” language of our deplorable times, Wilde should be considered a “homophobe” and not a “gay” icon. The irony is that this latest pathetic and pathological effort to erect a homosexist myth around the controversial figure of Oscar Wilde is based upon a misunderstanding about Wilde himself, and indeed, and to get to the point without mincing words, is erected on an outright lie. It will, for instance, come as no surprise that all proceeds from the “Oscar Wilde Temple” will go to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center across the street from the church. All of which brings us back to the spirit of the shrine to St. An exhibition she curated last year at the Frieze Art Fair in London, charmingly titled “Sex Work: Feminist Art and Radical Politics”, was criticized for being a thinly-veiled attempt to “exhibit erotic art” under the pretense of politics and was described by one review as little more than “the dilution of feminist rhetoric for commercial ends.” The unimpressed critic continued: “What is Gingeras’s goal, with her exhibition title equating these artists to sex workers, beyond mere sensationalism? With the smell of stale champagne and cologne wafting through the galleries, it’s extremely hard to digest this deluge of genitalia as anything more than a fetishistic amuse-bouche for the crowds.” These are damning words indeed, suggestive of the curator’s role as being synonymous with that of the prostitute or the pimp, or the brothel owner. Gingeras is no stranger to sensationalist stunts. The temple’s curator, Alison Gingeras, suggested, no doubt jokingly, that a séance should be conducted at the shrine on November thirtieth to honor Wilde’s death day.Īpart from boasting a delightfully and grotesquely apt Dickensian surname, Ms. Oscar the Sinner is described as a “ritualistic space” that will be available to rent for “weddings”, poetry readings, and for a planned discussion on queer theology (whatever that might be). It was the latest but will doubtless not be the last. It was with a queer sense of déjà vu that I heard the news that a “temple” in homage to Oscar Wilde has been opened in a Methodist church in New York City “to celebrate the Irish legend … who was imprisoned and shamed for his sexuality.” This was, after all, only the latest of many efforts to canonize Wilde as a homosexual icon and as a martyr to (homo)sexual liberation. In short, it’s time to face the real facts about Oscar Wilde and his real views on homosexuality…
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