Roy Cohns confrontation with his doctor in Act 1 is a striking example of how Tony Kushner explores power and identity. When Roy insists that [he] “is not a homosexual.” But instead a “heterosexual man… who fucks around with guys” he’s stating that for him, and I would argue, a lot of white men in power, labels like “gay” or “homosexual” aren’t about reclaiming personal truth; they are about status. As he tells his doctor, “labels tell you one thing and one thing only; where does the individual so identified fit in the food chain” (pg 46.)
In this scene, Tony Kushner dramatized the consequences of politics fed by denial and self-preservation. – and Delusion. Roy Cohn’s insistence that “what I am is defined entirely by who I am” turns identity, for him, into a performance of dominance where he is always top dog. While reading this passage, I began to consider identity not in terms of “who we are” but “who gets to define us.”
That idea, that identity is tied to hierarchy, gets to the heart of Roy’s worldview. He’s obsessed with power, and constantly measures his worth through access to connections and influence. “I can pick up this phone, punch fifteen numbers…” being gay, in his mind, isn’t about who he desires, but about whether he’s part of a “powerless” group. This is an important aspect to consider, that the denial of a label could be not just a political maneuver, but linked to clout as a form of political currency. Since Roy Cohn sees all his relationships as transactional, of course he would capitalize on this.
The irony of this, is that Roy’s attempts to weaponize identity and labels falls short of his moral and physical decay. (Well, he’s probably always been morally decayed.) His denial of his AID’s diagnosis as a “homosexual disease” runs counterpoint to his understanding and admittance that he knows how he contracted it. His rebranding of “liver cancer” and the idea that “powerful men don’t get AIDS” mirror the real world and broader social denial that allowed the AIDS crisis to worsen under the Reagan administration.
In Roy Cohn’s America, he has liver cancer, and isn’t a homosexual. But Tony Kushner reminds us that he’s dying of AIDS, and having sex with men. Not only that, but the body itself always calls the bluff.
I think the way you talked about Roy Cohn’s obsession with power and how its connected to his denial of his sexuality is really interesting. Roy wants power, and to be gay during the AIDS crisis is to be powerless, so Roy doesn’t want anything to do with that. It’s also interesting how you connected it to the country’s, and namely the Reagan administration’s, denial of the AIDS crisis in general.
this is the best title ever. 10/10. deserves a grammy, or whatever the equivalent is for snappy blog titles.