Here's how the extreme Right Wing is spinning the Mark Foley affair. The quote comes from Linda Harvey:
"Apparently, Rep. Mark Foley is homosexual. And like many homosexual men, he likes young teen boys. We should pray for him that he gets a handle on this problem and refrains from harming any more kids...open or suspected homosexuals should never be elected! The problem with homosexuals is that they frequently don't have common sense and don't acknowledge appropriate boundaries. Weird sex, public displays of "affection" and nudity, and sex with youth are built into the "Gay" sub-culture. Witness any pride parade, stroll around any predominantly "Gay" neighborhood, or visit "GLBT" websites and you quickly see the problem...we are insane to allow suspected or open homosexuals to assume positions as public officials, pastors, teachers, camp counselors or coaches. Then there are the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. The Girl Scouts have caved on this, as lesbians now are common among leadership!"
Meanwhile, Foley has publicly declared himself Gay for the first time, and is claiming to be a victim of childhood molestation. Nobody but his therapist needed to know about that! With prosecutors all but breathing down his neck, he's trying to drum up sympathy, and it's obvious. If somebody very high-profile doesn't step up to the mike and draw a clear distinction between homosexuality and pedophilia, I fear we're all going to suffer for Mark Foley's sins. "Gay = Pedophile!" I can hear Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity doing the math right now. Newt Gingrich has already finished working the equation.
Stuffed Animal
1 comment:
There is so much troubling news surrounding this issue. We should be sure not to forget that the leadership knew about this guy months to even years ago, and chose to do nothing. This is what I see as their motivation to put the spin back on the gay community. If they don't scapegoat they will be held accountable for their own actions.
We could very easily say that the man in Colorado who killed himself and a high school girl did this because of his preditory heterosexual nature, but we would end up sounding just as riddiculous as people who try to demonize the entire gay community for the actions of a lone man. Is it possible that both groups have within them people that neither are proud of? My guess is that once the hysteria subsides we will be able to let logic rule over passion. Until then it is our duty to report the facts as we see them so that our community, our society, and our country will be better informed. In being better informed we are in a better place to keep ourselves from allowing fear to become hate, and keep hate from dividing us further.
What Foley did was wrong, but it has nothing to do with being gay any more than the man's actions in Colorado has to do with him being straight. Criminals come in all forms and no group in society should have to listen to their group being vilified like this.
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