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Literature and Law

Legislative Power Over Sexuality & Gender Expression in Angels In America Legislative power has always dominated the private and intimate moments in people’s everyday lives. This control results in a uniform-like system that does not accept any change or deviance from societal norms, whether it be sexuality or gender expression. The play, Angels In America written by Tony Kushner, focuses on political and religious groups that enforce normative heterosexuality. Characters in the play go against the normative by simply being themselves among a crucial time in the AIDS epidemic. Angels In America present how political and religious groups, which are heteronormative, have legislative power over sexuality and gender expression. Joe Pitt, a closeted homosexual, tries to fit the role of a male by marrying a woman, Harper Pitt, and providing for his family, but fails to do so with his inner conflict. Roy Cohn is a suppressed homosexual who fights with his male identity and sexuality because he refuses to accept that he is a homosexual. These characters try to understand gender stereotypes and sexuality during Reagan’s administrative years. Joe Pitt is an individual fighting with his morals and happiness. Joe Pitt is a Mormon and a republican, yet his views contradict his life (Kushner 30). Mormon Church states that marriage is only between man and woman, with homosexuality being unacceptable. This heteronormativity and power in his religion forces Joe to conform to heterosexuality and to perform the gender roles assigned to men. He marries Harper Pitt and provides for his family, which he believes is a man’s role in society. To add on, Joe is also a republican and many republican views in the 1900s were against homosexuality. Due to his conflicting views, he had

no choice, but to come out to his wife and mother. This battle within Joe is very significant as it represents the many struggles homosexuality men must conform to heteronormative legislation in political and religious systems. This overwhelming power forced Joe to put aside his happiness to fit in his republican Mormon beliefs. In the article written by Andrea Zlámalová called “Sexual identity in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America”, it explains the character's view on strictly following basic gender roles. The article explains how in Reagan’s era, most citizens were religious and following stereotypical gender expressions. Most common religion in the mid-1900s was Christianity and gender stereotypes were internalized by religious legislation telling people how to act. A character who believes in old-fashioned gender roles is Joe’s mother, Hannah Pitt. Joe calls Hannah and tells her he is a homosexual however; Hannah reminds him of what it means to be a man. Since he is a married man, he has certain duties he must accomplish for his wife (Zlámalová, 31). These strict gender roles prevented Joe from expressing any trait that was not deemed masculine and this issue results in Joe being more pushed to the edge with his gender identity and sexuality. On the contrary, a character that tries to fit in with their female identity is Harper Pitt. Harper repeatedly mentions to Joe that she wants to be a mother and give birth to a baby however, her valium addiction prevents her from being pregnant. She is upset that she can not express her female identity which slowly results in her losing her temper on Joe. When she burnt Joe’s dinner she simply said, “It just seemed like the kind of thing a mentally deranged sexstarved pill-poping housewife would do.” (Kushner, 36). She resorts to describing herself as a housewife that does nothing at home or for her husband, which goes against her Mormon beliefs. Mormon women follow traditional gender roles and with Hannah being unable to perform these roles, she does not fulfill her female duty. This power in Mormon religion is significant to gender

expression because Hannah valued what her religion has to say about her gender identity. She internalized heteronormative and cisnormative rules in her religion to which it resulted in her being disheartened when she couldn’t keep up with the standard female identity. Another character who is under pressure with gender and sexuality is Roy Cohn. Roy Cohn is a suppressed homosexual that can not accept his sexuality when he is diagnosed with AIDS. He explains to Belize that since he has such a successful career with clout and connections, there is no way he can be a homosexual. He believes this wholeheartedly because according to him, homosexuals do not have power (Zlámalová, 22). The play shows a deep-rooted identity crisis when Roy Cohn is told by Belize to accept he is homosexual. During the Reagan era, it was expected to link politics and power to being a “real man” and with Roy claiming he has clout, he tries to portray this dominant male figure (Kushner 46). To add on, this is an even greater issue for Roy since he is a republican Jew. Both of his religious and political views goes against his sexuality, however, he always claims he is a heterosexual man. He makes it clear to Henry that, “Roy Cohn is not a homosexual. Roy Cohn is a heterosexual man” (Kushner 47). Roy felt confused when he is diagnosed with AIDS since it only affects “homosexuals and drug addicts” and since he is trying to present a heteronormative man, he does not believe he has it (Kunsher 44). He continues to repeat to Henry that he has liver cancer, but Henry refuses to believe him. Furthermore, Roy tries to maintain his power and image as a man in the public however, at the end of the day, this is the reason he can not come to terms with his sexuality and disease. The dominant male role he tried to portray would be shattered if he is open about his sexuality and his diagnosis with AIDS. The issue during Reagan’s era stems from the fear of AIDS being caused by homosexuals.

The article written by Badreddine Ben Othman called “Subverting the “Heterosexual Matrix”: Gender, Sexuality and Empowerment in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America”, explains in detail the issue with the AIDS epidemic during the Reagan era. The play takes place in the 1900s where Reagan was the president of America. When the AIDS epidemic was rising in the LGBT+ community, Reagan did not address it, adding onto the discrimination and stigma against the gay community. The outcome resulted in many religious groups such as Christianity and Mormonism claiming the cause of the AIDS epidemic is the gay community. So, many people held prejudice against gay communities. Joe and Roy are seen to be very concern with the public knowing they are homosexual since it was not accepted at that time. The heteronormative politics at the time (conservative) had only made laws for heterosexual individuals. This connects to the play when gay characters like Prior, who is not ashamed with his sexuality unlike Roy who suppresses it in fear of being seen less as a man. It could be interpreted that Prior did not care for legislation in politics and religion since he demonstrates in the play that it is fine to be who you are. Prior accepting his sexuality granted him the ability to endure the hatred many gay men went through. Prior also accepted that he has AIDS, while Roy continually denies it, claiming he is a heterosexual man. Angels In America written by Tony Kushner is able to present the many issues homosexual communities have to face. With issues regarding legislative power in political and religious groups to internalize heteronormative and cisnormative roles that are hard to break free from, characters in this play demonstrate their abilities to try to be who they are regardless of their opposing beliefs. Characters in the play try to maintain their gender expression to the best of their ability based on traditional gender roles in religion and politics, but fail to do so because of inner conflict. Legislative power on religious and political systems result in heteronormative

regulations that many minority groups are unable to perform and with this, the play presents the issues in sexuality and gender expression.

Works Cited Kushner, Tony. Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Theatre

Communications Group, 2013. Othman, Badreddine Ben. “Subverting the “Heterosexual Matrix”: Gender, Sexuality and Empowerment in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America.” Researchgate, Version 2 , IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277712299_Subverting_the_Heterosexual_Matrix_ Gender_in_Angels_in_America . Accessed on July 15, 2020. Zlámalová, Andrea. “Sexual identity in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America.” Masaryk University Faculty Of Education, https://is.muni.cz/th/gelp3/Bakalarska_prace_Zlamalova_Andrea.pdf . Accessed on July 15, 2020....