Amos Lassen

Amos Lassen has already contributed greatly to LittleRockPride.com after he introduced himself via e-mail and offered to do book and movie reviews and then started a guest blog on this site. We asked Amos where he grew up and how he ended up in Little Rock. “I was born and raised in New Orleans Louisiana and grew up and came out there in what seems like a long time ago. However I did my junior year of college at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel and it was then that I felt my real ties to the state of Israel. I returned there to live in 1967. I came back to spend a few years in Louisiana and was caught up in Hurricane Katrina and was evacuated by the National Guard to Pine Bluff, Ark. I moved to Little Rock in October of 2005." Amos has a professional background and education that enables him to offer our readers something that others might not be able to offer. “I am involved in academia,” Amos said. “I have been a supervisor of secondary education as well as a classroom teacher and a college professor. My areas of study are existential philosophy, literature, education and of late I have centered my life in the discipline of gay studies. And he also has done a lot for the GLBT community in other places before moving to Little Rock and beginning to give back here. “In Israel I was a founding member of the Society for the Protection of Personal Rights which was and is the gay liberation movement there,” Amos explained. “We have been instrumental in changing the laws of the country to embrace freedom for all regardless of sexual orientation. In New Orleans I published a magazine for gay men and women and was active in the AIDS Task Force and created ‘Chevraya' an organization for Jewish gays and lesbians.” When asked his advice to others about coming out, Amos said: “As for coming out I feel this is a personal issue and everyone has the right to make that decision himself and should not be forced into coming out if one does not feel comfortable in doing so. I believe that self-acceptance is the major problem here. If a person cannot accept himself then he has no right to ask others to accept him. This only breeds internal homophobia and is not good for the gay community or for the person himself. My own personal philosophy is simple — accept me for who I am and not for what I am — if someone has a problem with that then I really have no need to have him in my life. “I say to come out if you want to — if you feel this will make your life better and more meaningful. There is nothing worse than living a lie. Be yourself and others will accept you but do not push too hard — it can only cause misunderstanding.” Amos offered the following as his insight into the future for the GLBT community: “I see great things in the future for gay rights. When I look at where we are today as compared to where we were when I came out I have to sit back and realize how lucky we are. However we should always remember that we are where we are because others were there first and paved the way. “Our road to freedom is cluttered with bodies of gay men who were taken from us due to AIDS and these guys are our true heroes. If it had not been for the AIDS epidemic the gay community may never have come together. AIDS, as bad as it has been, has been a rallying point for us and because of the disease our community has been brought together and strengthened. What I fear is that since we no longer see people dying quickly, we may become slip-shod." Profiles in Pride questions: Date and place of birth? New Orleans, La., July 1, 1943 but there is a lot of life and love of life in this old gay guy. What is your favorite food? Food is food as long as it is cooked well and presented nicely. I have no favorites. What food will you not eat? Having being raised Jewish I try as best as I can to adhere to the dietary laws. I have never knowingly eaten pork and am not interested in trying it. What is the best job you've ever had? I think this is the hardest question of all. I have always had good jobs. I love working with people and imparting knowledge — that is, teaching people how to think. It is not what you know that matters. What counts is if you know where to find the answer. Never be ashamed to say "I don't know" — it's better than making something up. What is your dream job? My dream job would be to bring to the state of Arkansas a gay studies curriculum. I would love to teach courses in gay theory and literature and expose people to the wonderful achievements gays have made to the culture of the world. If you didn't have to work, what would you do with all of your time? I would read and watch movies part of the time but I think what I really would like to spend more time doing is to study in depth the Old Testament in Hebrew. I do that a bit now and I really enjoy it. Who do you admire most? There is a list of people I admire but allow me to be a bit offbeat — I am mystified by Michel Foucault, the French existentialist philosopher who coined the phrase "knowledge is power." He was brilliance personified. Likewise I admire Gertrude Stein, the American lesbian author who was never afraid to be herself — so much so that she left America to be able to live a full gay life. Locally I admire Rabbi Eugene Levy of Temple Bnai Israel in Little Rock who has helped my assimilation to Arkansas and has shown me new ways to approach the Five Books of Moses. Who would you lunch with if you could have anyone? I would love to have the same people to lunch with me but I would have to add Golda Meir former prime minister of Israel and a few other founders of the Jewish state. I wouldn't mind George W. Bush being there just so I could tell him what I really think of him — but why ruin a good meal? Who has had the greatest influence on your life? So many people have influenced my life — academics, politicians, artists and authors but there is one person who has not been with us for several hundreds of years who has really given me direction and that is Moses (not Charlton Heston) for having had the tenacity and the respect to deal with God on a one-to-one basis and for leading the Jewish people to the promised land. What one thing would you not have done if you could go back in time? I think I would not have returned to America and have had to go through the nightmare of Katrina. What one thing would you have done if you could go back in time? I would have followed my instincts more closely and would have been a better high school student. Having worked as a teacher I now realize the value of an education. What is your favorite word? "Sharmuta" an Arabic word which you do not want a translation of. Least favorite word? “Can't” there is nothing a person can't do if he really wants to. Favorite curse word? Again it's Arabic and you really can't print that here What turns you on? A good attitude, a good mind and a good person What turns you off? A10 mg Valium, it puts me right to sleep What word would others use to describe you? I think my name "Amos" says it all, there is usually only one Amos at any given time. What word sums you up? Insatiable. Whenever is enough really enough? When it is, it's time to pack it in and call it life?