Dear list members, 

Some of you may be interested in this reflective autoethnographic account, 'Covert Operations: Acts of Secrecy and Homosexual Identity', of three of my recent films I have just published in Edition 16 'Secrecy' of Hakara: A Bi-Lingual Journal of Creative Expression. 

I aim to demonstrate how gay men have used ‘covert operations’ or the acts of secrecy to hide and shield themselves from others. In my first film Covert Operations, I given an account of my teenage years when the acts of ‘secrecy’ were rooted in making use of what was available to me at the time (pre-Internet times of the early 1990s) and making things ‘queer’.  In the next film, The Tale of Benny Harris, rather than talking about my viewpoints drawn from personal experience, I present the viewpoints of gay men in history who used the covert language Polari, to communicate with one another. The third film Reclaiming my Voice refers to how I tried to modify my voice in order to fit in within my straight mates at the time. The most pertinent act of secrecy in this film is from the point of view of Danny, my straight mate, who uses the covert language to hide his internalised homophobia as well as the suggestion that he has in fact engaged in (and probably enjoyed) homosexual desire himself. As the saying goes, the more you try and hide something, the more visible or obvious you actually make it. 

Welcome to comments and happy to engage in dialogue about the piece. You can reach me at [log in to unmask]

Best wishes, 

Lee 

Artist and Senior Lecturer, Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts, London

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