Diane Cooner wrote:
>
> Greetings to all;
> I live in Guerneville California, a resort town about 1 1/2 hours north of San
> Francisco. Our community has served all sorts from the Bay Area for the last 100
> years. In the last 20 years it has been largely the gay community that has come
> and established 2nd homes, cleaned up the streets from the previous
> junkies/hippies that were here, kept businesses going and really led the way in
> bringing back the concept of "community" to the area.
>
> It appalls me to see again and again that perpetrators of these hate crimes are
> the 20- something children of our old "Woodstock" days. If this generation was
> supposed to be about love, then why do we still have this rampant hate? Why did
> we teach our children that it was okay to do these things to others? In the
> business world, it is also now our generation that is leading the way to slash
> and burn small business and our communities in the name of more profits. What
> kind of hypocrites have we become?
>
> The right-wing zealots are quick to condemn those that aren't like them, but I
> agree with Jane's observation that Jesus taught compassion and mercy for the
> disenfranchised. In fact, I was always under the impression that this was the
> object of all of his lessons. How then do we justify our actions that are way to
> the contrary?
>
> Many of my closest friends and favorite people are gay and lesbian, and that's
> their business. They are among the best and brightest people I know. America's
> moral crusade is full of holes.
>
> Diane Cooner, straight but not narrow
>
> Jane Sooby wrote:
>
> > Happy coming out day. Maybe next year we can be more joyous about it. I
> > share these thoughts with all of you to inspire contemplation about
> > community and inclusion, and to help break down barriers to understanding.
> >
> > It's a sad story coming from Laramie, Wyoming, a university town that has
> > had an active gay community for a number of years now and the site of a
> > conscienceless crime against a gay man last week.
> >
> > >From the Associated Press:
> >
> > "A gay student at the University of Wyoming was savagely beaten, burned and
> > left to die tied to a wooden fence. Four suspects were arrested.
> >
> > A passer-by found Matthew Shepard, a 22-year-old political science major,
> > bloody and unconscious Wednesday evening a mile northeast of Laramie. His
> > skull had been smashed with a blunt object.
> >
> > The man who found Shepard at first thought he was a scarecrow or dummy
> > because of the way he was positioned on the fence, police Cmdr. Dave
> > O'Malley said."
> >
> > I know a lot of people--gay and straight--in Laramie and in the state of
> > Wyoming who are walking around in shock that such a thing has occurred.
> >
> > To right-wing zealots who insist that homosexuality is bad and wrong, I say,
> > "See what your words have wrought." The constant message of hate seeps into
> > people's brains and encourages them to act at the most base level that
> > humans are capable of. It enables them to dehumanize people in the
> > particular class being characterized as bad, whether it is gays and
> > lesbians, people of color, or people seen as different from the norm in
> > other ways. Jesus taught a lesson of love for all including and especially
> > the disenfranchised.
> >
> > It is ironic that this sad event occurred so close to national coming out
> > day, a time for gays and lesbians to take the next step in coming out in
> > their lives. Harvey Milk, another martyred gay man, encouraged gays to come
> > out in every area of their lives to raise people's awareness. Gays and
> > lesbians aren't depraved perverts wandering around the streets of America
> > seeking to seduce the young or sodomize the straights. We are the people
> > working at the bank, in the university, driving truck, teaching school,
> > flipping burgers, etc. etc. We have and care for children, we have pets, we
> > love our families. The more you know us, the more you will realize how
> > average we are. Yet the more we are terrorized, the more being ourselves
> > threatens others, the more we will be forced to hide, to go underground for
> > fear of being the next victim. As we can see, this is not a baseless fear.
> >
> > I welcome any questions or comments.
> >
> > Jane Sooby
> >
> > University of Nebraska-Lincoln alternative crops research technician
> > Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society western organizer
> >
> > High Plains Ag Lab
> > 3257 Rd. 109
> > Sidney, NE 69162
> >
> > 308-254-3918
> > 308-254-2402 (FAX)
> > 308-254-0725 (HOME)
> >
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