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An amazing escape
John Brand
takes a look at James Randi – the celebrated
Canadian-American stage magician and
scientific sceptic – who, earlier this year
at the age of 81, came out as gay.
On 21 March,
through an entry on his blog, Swift,
and an interview on For Good Reason –
the Internet-based interview programme,
hosted by D. J. Grothe, which promotes
“critical thinking and scepticism about the
central beliefs of society” – James Randi
came out of the closet.
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D.
J. Grothe
©
For Good Reason |
I believe
that every gay person should be out of the
closet, and my first reaction was to wonder
what had taken him so long. However, I
quickly realised that I was being a little
mean spirited. As someone who was born in
more enlightened times, I can’t begin to
imagine what it must have been like growing
up gay in the 1930s and 40s, and living most
of your adult life pretending to be
something other than you are.
This is what
Randi posted on the James Randi Educational
Foundation (JREF) website:
Well,
here goes. I really resent the term, but
I use it because it’s recognized and
accepted.
I’m gay.
From
some seventy years of personal
experience, I can tell you that there’s
not much “gay” about being homosexual.
For the first twenty years of my life, I
had to live in the shadows, in a culture
that was — at least outwardly — totally
hostile to any hint of that variation of
life-style. At no time did I choose to
adopt any protective coloration, though;
my cultivation of an abundant beard was
not at all a deception, but part of my
costume as a conjuror.
Gradually, the general attitude that I’d
perceived around me began to change, and
presently I find that there has emerged
a distinctly healthy acceptance of
different social styles of living —
except, of course, in cultures that live
in constant and abject fear of divine
retribution for infractions found in the
various Holy Books… In another two
decades, I’m confident that young people
will find themselves in a vastly
improved atmosphere of acceptance.
Before
publishing this statement, I chose to
privately notify a number of my closest
friends and colleagues — none of whom,
I’m sure, have been at all surprised at
this “coming out.” I’m prepared to
receive the inevitable barrage of jeers
and insults from the “grubbies” out
there who will jump to their keyboards
in glee to notify others of their kind
about this statement, which to them will
be yet further proof of the perfidy of
the rationalist mode of life that I have
chosen. Those titters of joy will be
unheard over the murmur of acceptance
that I confidently expect from my
friends.
This
declaration of mine was prompted just
last week by seeing an excellent film —
starring Sean Penn – that told the story
of politician Harvey Milk,
the first openly gay man to be elected
to public office in California. I’m
in excellent company: Barney Frank,
Oscar Wilde, Stephen Fry, Ellen
DeGeneres, Rachel Maddow, are just a few
of those who were in my thoughts as I
pressed the key that placed this on
Swift and before the whole world…
I should
apologize for having used Swift
as the venue to publish this note, an
item that is hardly the focus of what we
promote and publish here, but I chose
the single most public asset I have to
make this statement. It’s from here that
I have attacked irrationality,
stupidity, and irresponsibility, and it
is my broadest platform. Here is where I
have chosen to stand and fight.
And I
think that I have already won this
battle by simply publishing this
statement.
Sadly,
Randi’s announcement tells us much more
about our society than it does about a
single individual. However, I think it’s
wonderful that he has lived long enough to
see a time when acceptance of who we are is
beginning to emerge, and I congratulate him
on his honesty.
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James Randi |
Now best
known around the world as a challenger of
so-called pseudoscience and claims of the
paranormal, Randi, as the Amazing Randi,
enjoyed a long career as a stage magician.
He retired at the age of 60, and switched to
investigating paranormal, occult and
supernatural claims, which he refers to,
collectively, as “woo-woo”.
Randi has
written a number of books, including
Conjuring: Being a Definitive History of the
Venerable Arts of Sorcery, Prestidigitation,
Wizardry, Deception, & Chicanery and of the
Mountebanks & Scoundrels Who have
Perpetrated these Subterfuges on a
Bewildered Public, in short, MAGIC!
(1993), An Encyclopedia of Claims,
Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and
Supernatural (1995), which includes an
introduction by Arthur C Clarke, The
Truth About Uri Geller (1982), and, with
Bert Randolph Sugar, Houdini, His Life
and Art (1976). In 2003, he wrote the
essay, “Why I Deny Religion, How Silly and
Fantastic It Is, and Why I’m a Dedicated and
Vociferous Bright”, and has recently
published the e-document,
A Magician in the Laboratory.
In 1996, he
founded the not-for-profit organisation, the
James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF).
Its aim is to “promote critical thinking by
reaching out to the public and media with
reliable information about paranormal and
supernatural ideas so widespread in our
society today”.
The
Foundation’s goals include:
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Creating
a new generation of critical thinkers
through lively classroom demonstrations
and by reaching out to the next
generation in the form of scholarships
and awards.
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Demonstrating to the public and the
media, through educational seminars, the
consequences of accepting paranormal and
supernatural claims without questioning.
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Supporting and conducting research into
paranormal claims through well-designed
experiments utilizing "the scientific
method" and by publishing the findings
in the JREF official newsletter,
Swift, and other periodicals.
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Providing reliable information on
paranormal and pseudoscientific claims
by maintaining a comprehensive library
of books, videos, journals, and archival
resources open to the public.
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Assisting those who are being attacked
as a result of their investigations and
criticism of people who make paranormal
claims, by maintaining a legal defense
fund available to assist these
individuals.
Click here, to read Randi’s essay on
religion, “Why I Deny Religion, How Silly
and Fantastic It Is, and Why I’m a Dedicated
and Vociferous Bright”.
To listen to an extensive discussion on being gay and
coming out of the closet, listen to
Randi’s appearance on
For Good
Reason.
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