Summary Of And Then I Danced By Mark Segal

And Then I Danced author Mark Segal is a gay, Jewish man from a poor family. Understanding Segal’s expression of his identity remains important in the context of his activism. His identity not only affects the way the world sees him but it also shows the interaction of social groups that individually have distinct qualities. A person’s relationship to others in society shapes how one sees and understands the world. A reader of Segal’s memoir is able to comprehend his positionality as he acknowledges his self in association to the way in which others view him. This concept is known as positionality and it is molded by such social groups. Positionality is even more important when power comes in to play. Segal’s work as an activist, demonstrator,
journalist, and political lobbyist are further influenced by his identity. Segal uses these defining characteristics as a part of his LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, +) activism.
When both Segal and the LGBT+ movement were young, Segal strayed away from politics and suits and focused more on his momentous “zaps.” Later, with an established LGBT+ movement, Segal put on the suit he once would not and ventured into the world of politics.
As an activist strategy to go political, the LGBT+ community sought to reinvent themselves as well as the movement. Segal’s “zaps” were necessary for the establishment of the LGBT+ movement and his later political approach. “Zaps” were a political stunt done to address the news, or lack thereof, of gays in the media. While the acts could seem in-your-face and possibly radical, the protests were non-violent, typically only involving Segal holding up a sign that reads something on the lines of “gays are against prejudice.” The purpose of these stunts was to keep the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Gay rights movement in the news. It was important to advocates of this movement to be talked about, to be heard, and thus, be taken seriously. Prejudice can be defined as “a positive or negative attitude toward a person or group without just grounds or sufficient knowledge… in spite of new evidence or contrary argument.” While prejudice is an attitude, discrimination is the behavior that arises from prejudice and the GLF was fighting
discrimination.
An issue that faces the gay community more than any other is AIDS. The epidemic of this life-threatening disease caused mass hysteria in the United States. Nonetheless, AIDS was not fully understood by outsiders of the gay community which caused misinformation to be spread like wild fires. As known today, AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease and cannot be caught by sharing public restrooms like it used to be thought. To perpetuate a stigma against gays, it was easy for many to use AIDS as an excuse. Furthermore, people would not even touch someone affected by AIDS and it was breaking news when Barbara Bush was the earliest First Lady to meet with someone with the disease. Homophobes have spread a number of rumors about the gay community based on some event that was misconstrued to demonize the gay community. An example of this is the apparent correlation of gay citizens and pedophilia. Some believe those in the LGBT+ community are pedophiles or that children are unsafe and at risk of molestation in same-sex households or by LGBT friends and family. This stems from men assaulting male children and the argument that those men should be seen as homosexual. This then gets twisted that all homosexuals are child predators. Controversially, Mark Segal is married to a man thirty-some years younger than he is.
Consequently, AIDS and pedophilia relate to sex and thus the LGBT+ community is often oversexualized, specifically in the media. Segal write’s that when a person says they are gay, they are almost always immediately asked some question relating to their sex life. Another aspect that plays into oversexualizing this community is the differences between gender identity and sexual identity.
Regardless of where one places themselves on the political spectrum, Mark Segal’s memoir leaves a reader with a viewpoint in history not too often learned about in history class. There is a lot to be learned about the LGBT+ community and their fight for equality. The combination of direct action and a pragmatic approach to politics, Segal set up the perfect stage for his show. Segal was lucky that the worst thing that happened to him while demonstrating was an overly aggressive police car ride. For many people around the world, still to this day, those who belong to the LGBT+ community, or those who do not fit a certain mold society has created, are arrested under unjust circumstances, censored in the media, discriminated against in the work force, and in some places, tortured and killed. While these are just some of the human rights that are violated, Segal did help the United States move away from these offenses in the LGBT+ community at home. However, the fight for equality is never over and has taken a long time to get to where it is today. Segal learned to celebrate diversity before it was fashionable from his grandmother in the 1950’s when she would bring him to civil rights rally’s and protests. He did not learn until he was older what he had participated in as a young boy. At just eighteen years old, Segal witnessed the notorious Stonewall Riots first hand and thought to himself, “what am I going to do? And it came to me: This is exactly what I want to do. I’m going to be a gay activist.” Since this pivotal moment in history, Segal has been working tirelessly for LGBT+ rights. Segal has made activism a career, allowing his name to be synonymous with the LGBT+ movement. As for many others, as Segal addresses in his book, the names of many influential people are unfortunately lost in time, even though their actions made change possible.
A flaw that Segal and several other gay activists have admitted to is the inability for the LGBT+ movement to be as inclusive as it made itself out to be. Diversity within the LGBT+ community is considerable however, there is not equal representation of such minorities.