Three year old Ronnie Antonio Paris was killed by his father. Something about young Ronnie Antonio's death is deeply disturbing. The news reports give one the impression his father was teaching his son how to fight. The goal seems to have been to make sure young Ronnie Antonio grew up to be a real man, not a sissy or a gay man.

The news reports make one shake one's head and rub one's eyes. Surely that cannot be right. Must have been just hearing things. This has to be some kind of a terrible dream. The journalists must have been mistaken. No dad tries to teach a three year old to fight. And surely no dad would think that teaching a child to fight will keep him from effeminate or from being gay. Something has to be wrong. This could not have happened.

The courts convicted Ronnie Antonio's father in his son's death. And we will leave the facts to the courts and to any appeal court trials. The legal system has the ability to dig up the facts better than we do.

There are, however, a few things that need to be made clear, in case there are misconceptions.

• Three year olds have not reached puberty yet. Three year old boys are not hung like a bull, do not have broad shoulders, muscular biceps, hair on their chest and a mustache. They do not spit chewing tobacco 50 yards. And three year old boys do not run around the county breeding every woman between sixteen and forty years of age. Three year old boys play with toys, and at times, they fuss and cry. After all, they are babies you know!

• Children need to be taught communication, so fighting is a last resort and so fighting is used only in self-defense.

• Love and teaching children how to love is a much more manly thing than teaching children violence and hatred.

• You cannot beat the homosexuality or effeminate behavior out of a person. Nor should you try to do that. Gay bashing is a crime!

• Men are doing time in prison for beating up or killing gay people. More than one man has been executed for killing somebody he assumed was gay.

• Take a chill pill people. Gays and lesbians are part of society. They have always been part of society and always will be part of society. Nothing you can do will change that.

• That masculine, beloved police office, fire fighter, military officer, coach, teacher or neighbor had made a real difference in your life might be gay. Lesbian and gay people are valuable members of our society, not people to be shunned or feared.