Held to answer

LaGrande, Ore., Mayor Daniel Pokorney has joined CNN commentator Roland Martin on an apology tour seeking forgiveness from gays.

If you could read the minds of Pokorney and Martin, would you find sincere apologies? Or would you find fear?

The gay community mobilizes and pounces at the slightest offense – demanding apologies, firings, resignations.

This is a good way to build resentment and backlash. It’s not surprising that with the privacy of the secret ballot, voters often reject same-sex marriage laws their politicians have approved.

Letting people have their say can be a safety valve. Some vocal members of the gay community might remember this next time they are offended and can’t stop at simply disagreeing with remarks like the ones Martin tweeted during the Super Bowl.

He continues to be suspended from CNN as punishment. Martin now has company with the mayor of LaGrande, Ore., (population 13,000), who felt forced to atone for comments he made on his Facebook page:

“Washington State. The latest state to transition to Sodom and Gomorrah. The attack on the marriage between a woman and a man continues,” he posted.

“Well, New Jersey continues the abomination of same-sex unions. Hopefully the governor will veto the bill,” he continued.

Pokorney held a public hearing and apologized to an audience of about 150 people, many of them Eastern Oregon University students.

Gay groups appear to be trying to do what the government is prohibited from doing: Abridge freedom of speech. The only reason they get away with it is because too many of us sit back and let them – especially in the media and entertainment worlds.

“I understand there is a right way and a wrong way to address the issues,” Mayor Pokorney said.

Who will determine which is the right way and which is the wrong way? Will the mayor be equally sensitive to every issue upon which he takes a stand?

The gay community’s brand of bullying has been building for decades. When I was a student at the University of Oregon, there was a local ballot initiative in Eugene, Ore., related to gay rights. I was opposed to it at the time because it seemed the country was losing its pluralism and headed for identity politics; everybody had to belong to a group.

A friend and I, both wearing buttons opposed to the initiative, were having lunch at a deli in Eugene, and a group of young men – sporting buttons on the other side of the issue – sat down at the table across from us. One of them pointed at us and said loudly to his companions: “They’re going to vote according to their Bibles.”

My friend and I smiled. Neither of us were church-goers. (I’ve never even been baptized.)  Reactionaries, whether they are from the left or right, are still reactionaries. Had we been sitting in a diner in the Bible Belt and wearing buttons in favor of gay rights, we might have been called perverts.

In the years since that encounter, gays’ political clout has grown and not because of how or with whom they have sex, which counts for nothing. (Having sex – whether it’s straight or gay – is no special achievement or accomplishment, no matter what your kink.)

What has helped homosexuals is their relative prosperity. As “minority” groups go, the gay community is one of the most successful. Or, as a black coworker in Southern California said to me years ago, “If they’re so oppressed, why are they doing so well?”

Their socio-economic status may be why they found political support more quickly than other groups that have demanded designation as a protected class. But it has given the gay community a confidence that borders on arrogance.

Several years ago while working for a newspaper in Spokane, Wash., members of the gay community insisted to be called “the LGBT community” on first reference instead of “the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered community.”

AP style, which most newspapers use as a guide, advises that for clarity, acronyms on first reference should be avoided unless they are commonly known, such as FBI or NAACP. Otherwise, they should be spelled out the first time, and then used only as an acronym on second reference if it wouldn’t confusing to readers.

Perhaps the LGBT crowd was aiming for NAACP status. I don’t know. One of my supervisors said we should use “LGBT community” on first reference if that’s what they wanted. Shortly thereafter, LGBTQ popped up in a story. Q (for Questioning) had now been added to the mix. Next, there was a request to add A for Allied, thus LBTQA. (I almost suggested that they add every sign in the zodiac, since I am sure there are gays under all 12 signs.)

It seems that gay leaders want to claim minority privileges, yet at the same time want to inflate their numbers to include everyone, figuratively demanding we all get into bed together.

They eagerly display concern about children’s confusion over sexual identity, but take no responsibility for making kids feel pressured to declare an orientation when they would rather just be kids.

The gays who blame Martin for inciting violence against gays with his stupid Twitter comments apparently haven’t noticed the daily violence that is suffered by many men, women and children, regardless of sexual orientation.

The gays who blame Mayor Pokorney for encouraging hatred apparently have never hated anyone themselves and believe it’s the government’s job to enforce love and acceptance.

They are so wrong, as some of them will find out someday in divorce court.

– Pamela Fitzsimmons

Related:

A Transgendered Grandstand