Bashing Back

Letter to (Baltimore) City Paper-- Published 1/18/06

The letter written by Leo Williams in the City Paper was nothing more that a diatribe consisting of blatant homophobia, hatred and ignorance ("No, but there is this thing called 'bashing,'" January 6). The venom spewed by Mr. Williams included the outlandish charge that "homosexuals are largely responsible for the deadliest epidemics in history." Assuming he is referring to HIV/AIDS, no researcher of any distinction has successfully identified the origin of the disease. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of people are dying in Africa and throughout the world each year, and to attribute the scourge to "homosexuals" is as ludicrous as it is patently false.

Mr. Williams went on to whine that gays "want to compare themselves to the black civil rights struggle." The best way to respond to his complaint is to quote a couple of noteworthy people who actually knew what the civil rights struggle was all about.

Julian Bond, a former associate of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and current chariman of the NAACP said recently in Baltimore, "Sexual disposition parallels race - I was born black and had no choice. I couldn't change and wouldn't change if I could," explained Mr. Bond. "Like race, our sexuality isn't a preference - it is immutable, unchangeable, and the Constitution protects us all against prejudices and discrimination based on immutable differences."

Another individual who knew something about the civil rights movement is Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott King. "I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice," Mrs. King said. "But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'" "I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people."

Mr. Williams further asked if "homosexuals ever been lynched or had their homes and churches burned to the ground by hate groups?" If Mr. Williams believes that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people have not been victims of hate crimes, he is apparently living on another planet.

The main question here is whether Mr. Williams' hatred in steeped in ignorance, or is his ignorance steeped in hatred?

Steve Charing