A taste of LGBT oppression
THE PLAY Bent is a harrowing drama about life in Nazi Germany for homosexuals.
Martin Sherman's script details the life of a young man named Max, whose carefree life suddenly changes when Hitler begins arresting homosexuals. When they are deported to the concentration camps, they are singled out like the Jews. Instead of wearing a yellow Star of David, however, they wear a pink triangle on their prison uniforms.
This play came to the University of South Carolina at an opportune time, with Sen. Jim DeMint saying that gay men are unfit to teach, Obama reinforcing "don't ask, don't tell," and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community challenging the status quo.
By staging Bent, the director, associate professor Robert Richmond, has carried out a courageous act. In Columbia, S.C., it is often safer for teachers to downplay their role in supporting LGBT rights, or not get involved at all, even if they are among the oppressed.
The act of hiding one's true self by marrying a member of the opposite sex is highlighted in the play, as the lead character is chastised for "flaunting" his homosexuality and refusing to conform or hide.
When my wife and I walked into the Lab Theatre to see the performance, she was given a pink program and I was given a yellow one, and we were forced to separate by Nazi soldiers. We reunited at the intermission and sat together until the end, but we both had a very small taste of oppression.
Actually, most of the world tastes oppression every day--the problem is, too many of us have accepted it.
Marc LaFleche, Columbia, S.C.
