i'm the queer one

This is nothing new. (See this for more information.) And it's not surprising either that my queerness comes up in Spanish class.

Someone presented a scene/song from Flamenco (1995), that awful film I had to watch for the class. "Fandangos de Huelva" was the one she chose to discuss, and I still don't know what a "fandango" actually is. I mean, how is it different from the other styles? But that's neither here nor there.

The scene basically consists of an old man sitting at the head of a long table, singing about how much he loves someone. Then the camera moves over to look at the opposite end, over all the heads of the people sitting at the table keeping the rhythm. At the other end is another old guy singing the same kind of thing, something about crying so much he collected a full glass of water/his tears. How melodramatic. Anyway, the presenter kept saying that they're crying over a woman.

I asked, "Do you think they are lamenting about the same person?"

"It's unclear."

"And do you think it can be interpreted that they are in fact singing to each other, about each other?"

She laughed, as did many others in the class. "No, I didn't think it [flamenco] was homosexual in the past." (Flamenco is an old tradition, and this song is traditional.)

"Were there no gays in the past?"

La profesora chimed in that some famous flamenco singers during the 40s and 50s were gay, and of course they weren't broadcasting that part of their lives.

Someone else said, "Flamenco is conservative, so I find it hard to believe it could be homosexual."

They miss the point: the song could very well be about repressed love between men. There's no indication that who they are singing about is a woman. I am just too postmodern for these people.

I should note that the prof's reaction to my question/comment was pretty funny. She must think I wanna queer everything up because she knows about my thesis on transgender sexuality in film. (And I do wanna queer everything up.)

Here's the other reason I am queer to these people:

I am the only American. And during another student's presentation on Semana Santa in Seville, she explained that the Klu Klux Klan stole the idea for their pointy hats and capes from the costume of the processional figures, the nazarenos, who lead the way for the heavy floats depicting biblical scenes through the streets.

During the Q & A portion of the presentation, the teacher pointed at me and started talking about the KKK, as if I know all. At first, I made a joke that I mumbled for the girl sitting next to me: "Yeah, I'm a member." In turn, I asked the presenter if she knew why the KKK adopted the costume, considering they're certainly not Catholic. The teacher suggested I research it since the presenter didn't know. Yeah right. The instructor then said "it's still a prominent group." I thought, "Not where I live."

What vision of the U.S. are people receiving?