On my quarter off from school (it also happens to be Suicide Prevention Day at the University of Chicago) I am taking advantage of some of the wonderful programs Notre Dame offers. Today is the second day of the conference "Gay and Lesbian Film: Filmmakers, Narrators, and Spectatorships" at ND. This event, formerly called the Queer Film Festival, includes screenings of various queer-themed films. Far from the type of movie shown at the Reeling Film Festival in Chicago, this conference showcases films such as Brokeback Mountain and Gay Republicans.
The title of the post comes from University of Notre Dame President John Jenkins, C.S.C., who tried to squash (and is still trying) the festival and, incidentally, performances of the Vagina Monologues, citing conflicts between the events and teachings of the Catholic Church. He claims that the name "Queer Film Festival" promotes homosexuality, which is against Catholic values. However, ND does not directly sponsor the event; it is sponsored by the film department, a student organization, and the Gay and Lesbian Alumni group, which ND does not officially recognize. (How sweet!) Thanks to adacemic freedom and professors who support it, the festival and the performance of the Vagina Monologues were able to continue (this year, at least) albeit under different formats. The Vagina Monologues will be performed in a classroom instead of on stage, and the performance will no longer be a fundraiser for the local YWCA. The president looks like an asshole in this respect because, first off, he claims that the Monologues are demeaning to women, and, secondly, he is against the charitable aspect of the program. The Queer Film Festival's name was changed because Festival sounds enthusiastic about the program, which he is not, and Queer sounds like it promotes homosexuality. I partly understand the argument for changing the name for Festival, but would only support it if the university itself sponsored the event. However, I do not understand the argument about changing 'queer' to 'gay and lesbian' for several reasons.
This change simply does not make sense. To begin with, 'queer' is more inclusive than 'gay and lesbian' which excludes bisexuals, the transgendered, the transexual, the intersex, and the genderqueer, or others who do not identify as heterosexual or homosexual women and men. Also, to name the festival 'queer' in an area where the word 'queer' is often used as a pejorative term took incredible guts by the organizers. The organizers risked danger of verbal and physical abuse for doing so.
Anyway, I am spending the day at my mother's office in order to be able to watch Gay Republicans this afternoon, which is somehow good but somewhat boring.
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