It’s More Than a Culture War

Beat poet Allen Ginsberg responded in an outburst to Norman Podhoretz in 1958, “We’ll get you through your children.” Sixty years later in July 2021, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Choir posted a widely disseminated video in which they sing:

“You think we’re sinful
You fight against our rights
You say we all lead lives you can’t respect
But you’re just frightened
You think that we’ll corrupt your kids
If our agenda goes unchecked
Funny, just this once, you’re correct”

The song’s chorus begins with the lines:

“We’ll convert your children
Happens bit by bit
Quietly and subtly
And you will barely notice it”