By Jack Nichols

One reason this journalist has continued—as do major media outlets-- to cover Bob Kunst's gay activist antics through the years--is that in public he knows better than to wax too serious, even if he is. This strategy suggests that laughing about one's enemies is a more effective ploy than giving way to self-righteous bursts of anger. What is needed, as stressed in The Gay Agenda: Talking Back to the Fundamentalists, is an outright willingness from all sides of the affectionate and sexual continuum to launch missiles filled with comic exposes of anti-sexual Carrie Nations. Theatrical wit, in fact, is the most potent weapon. Others who know this fact have come forward in the past. Dana Carvey's late 80s impersonations of Church Lady found Saturday Night Live's brilliant comedian satirizing narrowness of mind and silly dogmas. Fillmakers John Binninger and Jacqueline Turnure produced a twenty-minute parody of Reverend D. James Kennedy's video "The Gay Agenda" titled The Straight Agenda. "It begins with a Cronkite-like narrator intoning overpopulation statistics over scenes of starving people and really bad weather—the cost of'heterosexuality out of control.' Talking heads add authority to the message: Audrey (commedienne Suzy Burger) was trapped in a hetero cycle of 'dating, marriage, children and divorce' (a classic clip shows her pregnant and shopping for liquor.')" A comedy trio calling itself Funny Gay Males has been featured in videos and books. Jaffe Cohen, Danny McWilliams, and Bob Smith treat conventional views with truly gay (or joyful) style. Among my favorite satirical books—those which launch neutron word-bombs on cultural givens—are Allen Sherman's The Rape of the Ape (Playboy Press, 1973) The Boomer Bible (Workman Publishing, 1991), and Florence King's Southern Ladies and Gentlemen (Bantam, 1975). I can't help but giggle when I read Gore Vidal's screeds as well. Just recently, for example, he referred to worried parents smarting over the words "Oral Sex" now bandied about on TV news for the edification of their young'uns. Vidal quipped that its better they should hear about oral sex than about Oral Roberts. Now rolls up Bob Kunst's latest activist cannon, one that's aimed at Kenneth Starr and the right-wing conspirators who—with the upcoming Paula Jones sexual harrassment trial to be held late in May in Little Rock, Arkansas--continue to tie up the nation's more important business with a never-ending presidential sex-scandal of their own making. Kunst—who directs The Oral Majority—has made important allies in Little Rock, including the owner of Little Rock's Discovery Entertainment Complex, a gentleman who holds the franchise for the Miss Gay America Contest. Such connections fit meaningfully into the Oral Majority's plan, namely to play host to a good ol' marathon, a never-ending drag contest. Oral Majority's press release spotlights top opportunities in which aspiring drag stars can launch laughing missiles into our opponents' camps, devastating hits in the never-ending battle against sexual witchhunters. The Oral Majority is thus enlisting the services of our transgendered sisters and brothers: THE ORAL MAJORITY PRESENTS What Everyone Has Always Feared: An Endless Drag Show Starting May 25 in Little Rock Send the Female Impersonator Finalists from Your Bar ALL THE STARRS WILL BE SUMMONED while Spin Masters Spin Oral Nominations For Awards Whose Time Has Come BEST ACTRESS, 1998 In a Major Right-Wing Conspiracy, Raising the Question: "Why Send a 'Monica' to do a Man's Job?" Where? Where else? The Fabulous DISCOVERY Entertainment Complex 1021 Jesse Road, Little Rock, Arkansas 72202 The Whole World Will Watch: May 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 Special Awards: The Newsleak Magazine Award Saddam Hussein's 'Helpful Diversion' Award The Sexual Aversion Disease Award THE BEST ACTRESS, 1998 NOMINEES: Monica Lewinsky for "Doing the Full Monica" Linda Tripp for "D.C. Confidential" Paula Jones for "Good Bill Hunting" Jennifer Flowers for "Flings of the Dove" Kathleen Willey for "As Good as It Gets" Near the site of infamous Paula Jones Trial America's Gay and Lesbian Communities will send Transgender Celebs to take part in a Fundraiser for AIDS, the Cayman Islands Boycott and----to Put a Stop to America's Sexual Witchunters For information CALL: 305-864-5110 Fax: 305-867-1976 News Reports : gaytoday.badpuppy.com Email: bobkunst@bellsouth.net