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Girls, borrowing from a famous line of Bette Davis' in "All About Eve," I want to call your attention to something that I came across only recently. I am talking about the July 30. 2010 suicide death of Kevin Morrissey, age 52.
Yes, dears, a Baby Boomer Bites The Dust. But the circumstances are even more telling out of the hitherto erudite University of Virginia.
Kevin, for at least seven years, was the Managing Editor of VQR, aka Virigina Quarterly Review, a staid, literary magazine. His boss, Ted Genoways, 38, darlings, just to look at him he looks dangerous--a real redneck, bullshit macho orator who probably masquerades as a litterati, while pounding pussy on the side to show he is NOT gay. Well, he does wear a wedding ring, but interestingly, no one mentions a wife.
On the morning of July 30, Kevin, who admittedly suffered from lifelone clinical depression, found it had escalated to an intolerable degree, in good part by how Genoways was treating him. From disdain, to harassment, to hiring a 24 year old intern named Alan Levinson La Brosse (????? What kind of faux name is that, loves????) whose assests, shall we say, went beyond the merely academic. Then Genoways ensconces her desk in HIS office, with the door often shut, and before you can say finanical malfeasance, all sorts ot things are happening. Uh HUH.
But there are things The Raving Queen knows that are not being said. Like why shut the door, what is there to hide????? Like is this incident a tad homophobic???? No one is saying if Kevin Morriseey was gay--but no one says he wasn't. He was a sensitive, depressed soul, who was never married. To me that means gay!!!!!!!!! He also loved his job, and except for Genoways, his coworkers loved him. One. Waldo Jaquith, promptly resigned from the mag, which will now soon become a RAG, over Morrissey's death.
Why is workplace bullying here, especially as it might relate to homophobia, being tolerated? How many times--18--in one week before his death--did Morrissey have to call and not get a coherent response. Why is the very idea of homophobia, that seems to be lurking behind all this, not being discussed at all?????
The Raving Queen is on the beat, honey, and will report back anything it finds. In the meantime, readers tell me what you think, even if you think Genoways is right. I will take down YOU bitches!!!!!!!!!!!! But rest assured, Mr. Genoways will suffer some kind of comeuppance for this. He may not take responsibility for Kevin Morrisey's death, but its blight will be on his record forever!!!!!!!!!!
Ha Ha, you prick!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't prick yourselves with those hat pins, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6 comments:
You write: "Why is the very idea of homophobia, that seems to be lurking behind all this, not being discussed at all?????"
The answer is because Kevin Morrissey was not gay. That you -- who did not know him -- would claim otherwise, and then use that to claim to cry homophobia says quite a bit about you.
Well. Brendan--
Maybe it does say something about me, namely that I do NOT accept homophobia. And it sounds like you are closer to the situation, so if Kevin was NOT gay, that is fine.
BUT gay or straight, what happened was inexcusable. Clearly it was reconizale that he was in a fragile state; harassment, stress whatever, is only going to exacerabate this situation. Which was done to tragic consequences for Eevin!!!!
Okay, you do not accept homophobia. That's great. Neither do I. But my point is this: please do not claim to find homophobia in a situation about which you know very little. Please do not claim that others -- many of whom do, in fact, know the people involved -- are "refusing" to discuss homophobia. It makes you look small and it does no service to your otherwise admirable fight against bigotry.
If you found your way to this blog, then you know two things. It is often humorous in a gay/campy kind of way, but sometimes (as with this issue) I go to some "dark places" when I feel so inclined.
One thing I discovered as a result of the investigating I did is the existence of someting called the Workplace Bullying Institute. They have a webiste--very informative and helpful.
Reasons aside, the overall issue is inhumane treatment by one indivdual over another. In my case I WAS on the recieiving end of homophobia, which you can read about in the entry dated Feb 5 of this year.
A friend of mine, about 15 years ago, was bullied out of a job for which he was qualified, had the degrees, etc. The supervisor had a history of such behavior--and nothing beyond wrist slapping was done. Long time staffers there, I was told, maintained the intensity of the bullying was the greatest they have seen. And my friend did some hospital time, if you get my drift.
Years later, when he was able to talk about it without injury, he stated something interesting. My friend is a twin. So, it turned out, was this supervisor, who had estrangement and other issues with his sibling.
It is disturbing to me how these incidents can arise from something as aribitary as the aforementioned.
I truly am sorry for what you went through. And I fully support your efforts to combat homophobia and workplace bullying. And I just as fully support your using this blog to be as screamingly gay and outrageously campy as you possibly can be.
I suppose it's a bit presumptuous of me to Google my way in, never having read your writing, and pick a fight. Let me try to explain myself a bit more clearly, and then I'll leave Her Majesty in peace.
I am, indeed, close to the events at VQR. My wife is the magazine's associate editor. Kevin Morrissey was a good friend to us both. As such, I have closely followed the journalism and blogging that has covered Kevin's death, and I've been bothered by a couple things: 1) the willingness of so many to presume knowledge of a situation that they do not have; and 2) an equal willingness to dismiss the statements of people who do, in fact, have some knowledge. Instead -- and I suppose we see this all the time in politics -- these folks bend the events to fit their own immovable world views. It may comfort them some, but it is of no help in understanding Kevin's death.
Please forgive me if I use you as an example. You wrote in your original post -- perhaps cheekily -- that Kevin must have been gay; after all, he was unmarried and no one has said that he wasn't gay. You then see homophobia lurking in the shadows. But, as you all but acknowledge in your previous comment, what you really see lurking in the shadows is your experience.
In and of itself, that kind of reflexive support can be a good thing. I believe that the VQR staff has been surprised and, in a way, touched by the outpouring of support by those who have been bullied in the workplace. But in the end, these people's experiences are not a substitute for facts. Ted Genoways is not necessarily just like their bosses; Kevin Morrissey was not necessarily just like them. But when we conflate the two we minimize the complexity of people and events. Beyond that, we perhaps unfairly demonize people like Genoways and sanctify people like Kevin -- without really knowing them.
You write that "the overall issue is inhumane treatment by one indivdual over another." I agree, but I hope you'll recognize that when you jump to conclusions and make sweeping judgments -- based not on the facts but on your own life -- that can have a negative effect on people, even when your intentions are pure.
Ted Genoways, Kevin Morrissey, and the VQR staff deserve better, just as you deserved better in your workplace, and just as all victims of homophobia and bullying deserve better.
Thanks for letting me have my say and thanks for your support for the VQR staff.
Just read your recent comment--on behalf of The Raving Queen and myself, the support and endorsement is appreciated. Being in the library field, and a voracious reader of classics and literary fiction (just finished "Freedom") I admire those in the literary field.
Please feel free to tune in and comment on here whenever you like. Hopefully there will be some more humorous entries.
In the words of the wizard of Oz, you have "forced me into a cataclysmic decision." Each Thursday on here someone is designated Bitch Of The Week, They can be male, female, real or fictitious (ie; Veda in "Mildred Pierce!"). Until your last posting, where you say something about "sancitfying Kevin" and "denmonizing Genoways," I had planned to cite Genoways this week. Now, I will look elsewhere. Plenty of BOTWs out there, I assure you.
I hope things there work favorably for all of you. If the media does not cover it, please let me, discreetly as possible, know!
Have a great day!
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