To The Editor:
Your March 21 editorial “‘Utraque Unum’ Mistranslated” [The Hoya, A2] questions a lack of sufficient “explanation” of the Lloyd-Cucci GenderFunk project. This criticism struck me as missing the point of the artwork, especially since its activist-authors did include an English translation of the Latin, thus making the ironic intention and clever logic obvious.
While the Photoshopped portrait interventions on their own would have made for weak satire at best, the addition of Georgetown’s motto is transformative. Given the stature of the individuals represented and their roles as campus enforcers of the church’s teaching and discrimination toward transgendered persons, the work is well within the bounds of fair use and protected speech.
On a related note, Danny Funt’s final question in his interview with President DeGioia was phrased such that choosing a member of the LGBTQ community as the next university president has been unprecedented, and thus would be a groundbreaking step.
Considering that Georgetown’s leadership already has included at least one gay, but not “out” president (as well as provost, dean, treasurer, university chaplains and department chairs), a better question would be to ask how soon, or under what political and cultural circumstances, would the university begin to tout its LGBTQ history, as it did in the late 1960s with regard to its unfortunate history on race when Fr. Patrick Healy’s, S.J., bio went from a self-identified ethnic Irishman to “the first black president of a major university”?
The GenderFunk artwork speaks for itself, and yet it may be helpful to recall Oscar Wilde’s observation: “It is Art, and Art alone, that reveals us to ourselves.” So if these mild send-ups are considered “sensationalist,” it says more about the viewers than the creators.
The same holds true for the softball question on whether Georgetown could elect an LGBTQ leader. Until the university is ready to acknowledge the ones it’s already had, I for one will not hold my breath waiting.
Michael MacPhee
CAS ’81
