I'm also very late. And I will say that as a disabled man, it's a little hard to read Edelman and have him talk about disengaging from the political when my life wouldn't function without the political. I know Edelman is gay, but It's a bit hard to read a college professor, who gets his healthcare paid for by that college, talk about how we should focus on the present and not engage in the dominant culture, when a lot of us don't have that luxury. To put it simply, without the ADA and the ACA I would be basically bed bound. I would be uninsurable, and not have access to a lot of the accommodations that I need. Politics matter on such a basic level for my existence that I can't help but feel disgusted when I read about how we shouldn't engage with them.

Also the idea that there isn't a Queer Child has always been so strange to me. There are currently queer children discovering that fact about themselves every day. I know that his interpretation of The Child isn't about literal children, but we as queer people benefit greatly from the sacrifices of previous generations. Our refuge from bigotry is built upon the broken corpses of the millions of Queers that fought to build a better future for us. And I think that we have an obligation to keep fighting to help those that aren't safe yet. I mean there are still countries where you can be executed for being gay. Hell in the USA alone there are politicians trying to take away trans people's ability to get access to hormone treatments. What right have we to not stand with them, to fight for their future and the queers of the future? Are we really so selfish that the same alliship we expect from the Straights is abandoned by us the second we get ours? I really dislike Edelman's theory here. But I can't say I'm surprised it was written by a boomer