Working towards a better and more perfect society has been a goal that can at times conflict with traditional values. The issue of same sex relations is the ideal example. Both religious and political institutions argue that sexual relationships should only be between the opposite sex. Queer is a definition under construction, but it can be defined as going against traditional values. What I find queer about Angels in America is the battle between maintaining traditional values and changing identity entirely. Louis was the character of interest to me. He's very indecisive evident when he's having sex with Joe. Louis leaves Joe not because he does not like him, but because his issue with identity and it not being ideal for society. Louis states in the dialogue that he wants to seek purpose in his life, but at the same time he says "And I can be anything, anything I need to be. And I want to be with you" (Kushner, 206). As the reader, Louis loves his partner, but circumstances prevent him from identifying as a gay man.
The other important scene that should be taken into consideration is in scene 10. This is where Joe and Louis fight over politics. Louis states how gay men are "entitled to the special protection of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Equal Protection under the Law" (Kushner, 248). Having this policy gives off the impression that this could prevent issues with nonacceptance of homosexuality. This was not the case the law was changed when Louis tells Joe "Actually they didn't write this. (He goes right up to Joe; speaking softly) You did" (Kushner, 249). Joe did not write this policy on purpose. He did it without even knowing and this initiated the quarrel. The fight was about both of them hurt emotionally how discrimination against gay people could continue permitted by government. What is evident is that Joe and Louis really do love each other with reference prior to this event. The establishment of certain policies though like this one, hurts the relationship between them tremendously. From a peace and justice standpoint, the question is if certain values should remain the same even when they harm relationships between people like Joe and Louis.
So what is queer justice? It can simply be argued that it comes down to traditional vs non-traditional ways. Hannah in the epilogue states "You can't live in the world without an idea of the world, but it's living that makes the ideas. You can't wait for a theory, but you have to have a theory" (Kushner, 289). My interpretation is that preconception dominates our way of thinking. We imagine a world where we have everything established to a point where there can be no difference. This is the reason why we see gay men in Angels in America struggle with their sexuality because society has a theory that they are not supposed to homosexual. Society arguably is structured to the point where they are not able to be themselves. When they realize their true selves, they have such a hard time coming out because of fear of what others may think coming from how they are brought up. Queer encompasses this issue of going against a structure that promotes universal thought as oppose to open mindedness. The term also refers to movements for equality. There is subtle reference to this in Kushner's work when Prior says about AIDS "This disease will be the end of many of us, but not nearly all, and the dead will be commemorated and will struggle on with the living, and we are not going away. We won't die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come" (Kushner, 290). Prior's reference describes does state how time can only go forward. The deeper message though, is how everything cannot remain the same. Homosexual identity has been such a long term struggle, that it cannot be ignored and will continue to combat discrimination. Queer justice is therefore is a world where it tolerates differences in people by changing policies and not being so conservative. Even long term beliefs have to be changed in order to solve the issue. In this case, the universal thought of only opposite sex relations being possible will change with the persistence of the conflict associated with same sex relationships. Traditional values are unjust when they break relations for the sake of being conservative. Time only progressing means we must progress as well and this means tolerating differences. As Prior argues, trying to maintain traditional thought only extends the length of time the conflict will live on. Even with a high cost at some point, change will have to be inevitable.
You make some very interesting points in the second half of this post, and I'm struck by how you're making some good points about Prior's final comments. It makes sense to me that queer justice would encompass or insist upon a growing, ever expanding tolerance for LGBTQ people, and I think the play is dramatizing, in the ways you suggest, how normative structures inhibit the fullness of gay men's identities, especially for Joe (and possibly Roy). I think the experiences of Louis, Prior, and Belize might suggest other important things, too, so be careful not to overgeneralize as you make your point.
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