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The editor of my local newspaper (small town in Texas) wrote an editorial just prior to the airing of the coming-out episode of the television sit-com "Ellen" in which he ridiculed her and other people with "different" lifestyles. Unfortunately, I misplaced the original editorial, but he published my response the next week. He excused his views by saying he was raised as a hick. Here is my response: |
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A Counterpoint on Ellen's Coming Out |
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I read [the editor's] editorial "Dear Ellen: Please keep your closet door closed" with interest, and I felt compelled to respond. Webster defines "hick" thusly: "an awkward, unsophisticated person regarded as typical of rural areas; yokel; hayseed. Webster defines "bigot" like this: a person who holds blindly and intolerantly to a particular creed, opinion, etc. A narrow-minded, prejudiced person. Now I would propose that one can be a hick and not be a bigot, or vice versa. I have no quarrel with hicks; but bigots trouble me. Let's examine [the editor's] editorial and see which definition is more fitting. First off, [the editor] announces that he wasn't about to watch Ellen's interview with Barbara Walters. He goes on to say he doesn't care what people like her do, but he wishes they would keep it to themselves. Doesn't this sound hauntingly like "I have no problem with black people, I just wish they'd keep to themselves, ride in the back of the bus, stay out of my schools, use a different bathroom…", etc. etc. ad nauseam? The point is that telling someone they should hide or be ashamed because of who they are diminishes their life. They have to tiptoe around hoping to not offend the "correct" people. I have always stressed to my three children to keep an open mind, to not be afraid to consider another person's viewpoint, on any issue. By refusing to even listen to the Ellen interview on ABC, [the editor] has declared that he knows she had nothing worth hearing by not hearing it. Look above to the two definitions. Later in the editorial, [the editor] says "I bear no grudge against homosexuals… So far as I know I don't know any." I had to smile at that one. I didn't "know" any gay people either until I moved away from [my hometown] to go off to college. Does that mean they didn't exist? Of course not. With people expressing opinions like his is it any wonder they didn't tell anyone? Looking back now, I know of at least two people I went to school with who were gay, but they kept it to themselves. I'm sure there were more, but they were afraid to tell anyone as well. When I lived in the dorm in college, there was a gay man living on the same floor as me, sharing a room with a straight guy. We all got along just fine. He never accosted any of us nor attempted to persuade us that we should become gay like him. So why is it important to let gay people say who they are and be unashamed? I've thought about how those people must have felt growing up knowing they were different, having to listen to all the crude comments and jokes about gay people, but being unable to say, "Please stop, you're my friend but you're hurting me." Now for the really telling one. Again quoting [the editor]: "The only people who could possibly care about Ellen are other Lesbians, those who breathe deeply into telephones, or those who want to send her to eternal damnation." Well, I am none of those things, and I care. I think she is one of the most courageous people I've seen in a long time, and I wish her the very best. If he had watched the Ellen interview with Barbara Walters, [the editor] would know exactly why Ellen is telling the world about herself. And he may be surprised at the reasons. Rather than spoil the surprise, I recommend catching it on the reruns. When I was a senior in college, my best friend happened to be black. I still think back about the times I went to church with his family, how friendly they all were to me, and how some of the little cultural differences made me see other and better ways to do things. I wouldn't trade those memories away for anything, but I could never have had them if I had declared "black people are ok, as long as I don't have to get near any of them." In graduate school, I had the honor to know people from just about every major world religion. They never pushed their ideas on me, but when I asked, they would talk. What did it benefit me? Well, I learned something of Pakastani and Indian culture, and I still have spices they gave me to prepare really tasty dishes recipes from their homelands. If I had declared that Hindus and Moslems were unworthy, that they might contaminate me or my family, my life would not have been enriched by knowing them. Finally, for all the Bible thumpers who will come crawling out of the woodwork, I just ask that you consider that Jesus always preached love, tolerance and compassion. He never maligned anyone for who they were. So before you start casting stones, look inside yourselves, and ask, "why do I feel compelled to belittle and reject people who are different from me?". Bigotry is ugly in all its forms. Let's all do our little part to help eliminate the real disease. Respectfully,
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As expected, a couple more letters appeared from religious types, but they weren't very coherent, as is usually the case with the rank and file of the religious right. One somehow gleaned that I disliked hicks, and was most offended by that! Like I said ... |
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Last Update 4/5/04 |