"Man has to suffer. When he has no real afflictions, he invents some." - Jose Marti

***

On "power relations":

An Argument with Barney Frank

"In the midst of his 21st year in Congress, openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., sat down with Rex Wockner last week to assess the state of the gay union...

Barney Frank: In your day-to-day life, are you discriminated against as a gay man?

Rex Wockner: No. Never.

Barney Frank: Fine. Unlike 30 years ago when almost everybody was. ... In many metropolitan areas today, you can live as a gay man or lesbian without anybody impinging on your life. Therefore, not everybody votes for the cause. They vote for things that affect their life. In a purely self-interest sense, that's rational [for a gay person to vote Republican].

Rex Wockner: I don't vote Republican. ... You know, it's not only that I never get discriminated against in any way, and that my gayness doesn't have any impact on my daily existence any more. I think I sometimes get special treatment because it's cool or hip to be gay now.

Barney Frank: No question. That's absolutely right. I certainly get it.

Rex Wockner: I get mainstream journalistic assignments because I'm gay.

Barney Frank: I know that's right. ... Once it became clear my boyfriend and I were together and it got in the papers -- he works at World Bank -- we started getting invitations from straight colleagues of his to go to boring parties, because it was cool to have a gay couple.

Rex Wockner: That's the environment now in urban areas of all First World countries.