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PHOENIX, Page SevenGays and Straights:Live and Let LiveBY SUSAN M. FEINGOLDIn the communities of Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill among others, straight couples and gay couples in increasing numbers are living side-by-side, apparently amicably and without tension. A number of institutions in these communities have opened their doors to meetings of gay organizations and to gay social functions. While some community residents are obviously coni- jtemptuous of gay relationships, it is encouraging that they at least seem willing to %u201clive and let live%u201d as far as gays are concerned.I suspect that many of us %u201cliberal%u201d straights living in the Heights and Hill secretly pat ourselves on the back for living in and, we fancy, helping to foster such an accepting climate. Our acceptance, however, is in some respects only a surface illusion we are maintaining, for we have stopped short of creating a truly liberal community. We are still living in social segregation %u2014 if gays come to our social functions, we expect them to %u201cplay by our rules.%u201d We accept them only so long as they cover up their relationship to one another. Gays and straights have tacitly agreed to go their separate ways, so as to protect straights from having to deal with how very uptight gay love and gay sexuality make them feel (and, incidently, to protect gays from further abuse and humiliation at the hands of straights).All of us in the Heights and Hill communities have within our grasp a unique opportunity %u2014 the opportunity to serve as an example of a new life style and a new, more rational society by creating an atmosphere where all people can be accepted for who and what they are and can participate fully as themselves in the social, economic, and political life of the community. To accomplish this, however, straights must first understand and come to terms with the basically irrational and antihuman roots of the prejudice against gays; gays in turn mustdecide whether they are interested in developing a truly %u201cintegrated%u201d community %u2014 interested enough to take the risks that might be involved. Straights must also rid themselves of the patronizing attitude that it will be good for %u201cThem%u201d to mix with %u201cUs%u201d and understand that it is desirable for us to end the separation which is depriving all of us of the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with an entire group of our neighbors.No doubt almost everyone is familiar by now with the attitude that sexual relations between people of the same sex are %u201cunnatural.%u201d Several recent writers have taken great pains to illustrate in any number of ways that homosexuality is no less %u201cnatural%u201d than heterosexuality. A fundamental question, however, is why we expect human beings to act %u201c naturally%u201d %u2014 i.e. like their animal counterparts %u2014 with regard to their sexual behavior when, in fact, they do not act %u201cnaturally%u201d in any other respect. By the time we are adults, every supposedly %u201cnatural%u201d function is filtered through the thinking process. For example, elimination is %u201cnatural,%u201d but how, when, and where we eliminate are not; eating is %u201cnatural,%u201d but the circumstances surrounding our consumption of food are not (certainly abstention from food in order to present a more pleasing physical appearance, or to observe some religious occasion, is not %u201cnatural%u201d); sex is %u201cnatural,%u201d but the process of choice of a sexual and-or love partner is not.As human beings, we claim to value highly the ability to reason and the capacity for emotion which distinguish us from all other animals. If one of man%u2019s most admirable potentials is the ability to love, how and why should he limit that potential to people of the opposite sex? Surely that is irrational %u2014 if man is capable of modifying his animal behavior through reason and emotion, why should he not modify the %u201canimal%u201d choice of a sex-love partner or partners? In fact, that %u201canimal%u201d partner choice is alreadyA lb an y Report:Legislative ProspectsBY CAROL BELLAMYThe 1973 session of the New York State Legislature, which will begin in less than a month, is likely to deal with a number of the controversial issues which came up during the last session. The abortion issue, which was the subject of intense lobbying activity and much emotionalism, will again be a major area of controversy. During the last session, the Right to Life groups were highly organized and effective; this year Pro-Present I.aw lohhv isequally well organized, and no one can accurately predict what the chances of the abortion reoeal bill will be. I will be writing on this issue at greater length in subsequent reports.No fault automobile insurance is another issue which attracted intense lobbying and controversy. The governor anu legislativeleaders have indicated that they plan to press for no fault this year,tremendously modified by custom and convention %u2014%u2022 except in the critical area of sex of the partner chosen.In some ways I resent the necessity for even having to present the above argument, for I am sick to death of the totally unhealthy preoccupation which we Americans seem to have regarding what we and other people do in bed, and with whom, how often, and how well we do it. Few people seem to care whether gays, or for that matter, straights, love one another. All that seems to be significant is that gays have sex (gasp!) with someone else of the same sex. This attitude of shock at gay sexuality is expressed by many otherwise sexually %u201cliberated%u201d individuals. Conversely, the %u201c modern%u201d sexual attitude toward straights seems to be that as long as straight couples are having sex, it%u2019s cool! If there is cruelty, exploitation, or other unloving behavior in the relationship, society certainly refuses to get involved legally or morally, except in the most extreme cases.Of all the qualities and characteristics that go to make up a human being, why do we fixate on sexuai performance and %u201csexual preference%u201d as among the most important criteria for determining a person%u2019s social worth and acceptability? Surely it is more important to know whether a person is capable of being a loving human being, no matter whois the recipient of that love, than to know whether he or she can keep that loving within socially acceptable bounds. But we do not concern ourselves overly much with love; sex manuals far outContinued on Page 8V %u25a0*:;N in a Sim one w ill be fe a tu re d .Philharmonia GivesAll-Brecht ProgramNina Simone will be the guest soloist when the Brooklyn Philharmonia presents an allBrecht program on Sunday, Jan. 14, at 3 p.m., in the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Miss Simone will sing Brecht song-settings by Paul Dessau, Hanns Eisler and Kurt Weill.The program also will feature Philharmonia musical advisor Lukas Foss, who will conducttwo operas in concert version that are based on Bertholt Brecht texts: \(He Who Says Yes) by Kurt Weill and %u201c Lehrstuck%u201d (The Lesson) by Paul Hindemith.Tickets for the Philharmonia%u2019s January 14th concert are now on sale at the Brooklyn Academy of Music box office, 30 Lafayette Avenue. They range in price from $3.00 to $6.00.and it is likely that some compromise version will be enacted.Court reform will be another area of legislative activity. The court reorganization bills which were defeated in the closing hours of the 1972 session will be reintroduced and probably passed. In addition, the legislature will examine proposals for a special court with statewide jurisdiction to review criminal sentences in felony cases. The purpose of this special court would be the elimination of unjustified disparityin c r i m i n a l c o n to n n n c T h aLegislature will also consider a proposal for an independent agency, modeled on the New York City Board of Correction, which will monitor the performance of the courts, judges and district attorneys. All these agencies have been under attack for failing to function efficiently; their failureso%u00bb*A of fl>o aaiip -a /vf t L n Krnn lrU i v . kA i. U 1U k \\ j r \\ j 0 v u u o c u i m v KfA v w udown of our criminal justice system.sanitationThis NewspaperRecycling CenterWill Be Open e Daysa WeekStarting January 8th1!Starting January 8th, when you bring out your garbage, bringcut your newspapers, too (tied in separate bundles, please).We are improving and expanding our newspaper recycling program in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, and parts of Ft. Greene and Park Slope. Newspapers will now be picked up for recycling by Sanitationt r n r k c s c t h m ; m a k e s t h o i r n n r m a l r ' n l l p r ' t i n n cWe hope this will make recycling a little easier.For information on the newspaper recycling program and on whether your block is included, call: 566-5527.Department of Sanitation Environmental Protection Administration City of New York