Letters

"As long as lawmakers put gays on par with ‘kleptomaniacs,’ the road to sexual equality will remain littered with obstacles."
Andrew S. Kahn, Philadelphia

What is going on? It’s hard to imagine that in the US, the most advanced country in the world, we are still faced with heinous crimes of hate like the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, the young gay man in Wyoming [Nation, Oct. 26]. We must stop killing others because they are different from us. The religious right should be embarrassed by its claims and advertisements that gays and "change" to be heterosexuals. I hope Shepard’s family knows that he was not "sick" but a victim of "sick" thinkers.
Samuel Louis Morris, Greenvill, S.C.

On the way home from school at the age of eight, I was beaten by a grown man because I was Jewish. At 17, at Auschwitz, I witnessed the hate crime of the century against Jews, Gypsies, gays, and others. Fifty-five years later, we have ill-disguised hatred, instigated by the religious right as well as by some of our elected representatives. How many more innocent gays and lesbians will be attacked, as was Shepard? Sign me Jewish, gay and proud of it.
Gerald B. Rosenstein, San Francisco

Anyone who condemns gays but does not condemn adultery among heterosexuals with the same zeal is a hypocrite! This is a major double standard.
Sid Darden, Penrose, Colo.

Christian fundamentalists claim that changing from homosexual to heterosexual is possible through adherence to Christian principles. That idea is insidious at best and a outright lie at worst. Back in the mid-1970s, I could have been the poster boy for one of those "conversions" to heterosexuality ads. I claimed I had "changed," and even got married and fathered a son. But no matter how hard I prayed to change my sexual orientation, no matter how much I believed I could be "delivered" from the sin of homosexuality, I finally had to accept the inevitable. I came out of the closet, left behind a bitter and betrayed wife and watched my son, no 18, struggle with his love for me and the hate he feels toward homosexuals. Unfortunately, I left destruction in my wake, but I have never felt better or healthier than I have since I came out.
James S. Fitzgerald, Atlanta

The scapegoating of gay people for political gain has got to stop. To varying degrees, gay people, particularly those in their teens, face a sometimes daily barrage of harassment, intimidation and threats of physical harm. The suicide rate for gay and lesbian youth is three times the norm, making the quality of their young lives sadely obvious. Every year we receive tens of thousands of calls on our toll-free telephone hotline (1-88-THE-GLNH) from people who need information, peer counseling or referrals, What happened to Shepard could happen to any of us. And someday it might.
Brad Becker, Executive Director Gay and Lesbian National Hotline, San Francisco

I was startled by the statement, reported in your story, of a young Laramie, Wyo., man who said he would soon be moving to Denver, "where it’s easier to be gay." My son Peter Sanson was brutally tortured and stabbed 37 times, and then died on the streets of Denver on March 12, 1996. His killers had set out that night to find a gay man. No one should think that because it may be easier to be gay in Denver, it is also safer. As long as there are bigotry and hate towards gays or any group, no place is safe. Be careful!
Judy Sanson-Harris, Anchorage

Politics or not, hate crimes or not, the practice of homosexuality anywhere outrages right-thinking people everywhere. The sooner homosexuals come to terms with the unchangeable fact that God unequivocally disapproves of their sexual conduct and those who applaud such behavior, the sooner they will turn away from their vile degeneracy.
John Quincy Mitchell, La Verne, Calif.

Not only are there a "greater number of visible and comfortable gays" today, as pointed out in your report, but there are also a greater number of visible, comfortable and vocal parents of gays who are proud to express their unconditional love of all their children, straight and gay alike. We stand proudly with our gay children; we help educate an ill-informed public; and we tirelessly advocate equal civil rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation.
Iris S. Blumenthal, Past President Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Syossett, N.Y.

Talk about denial writ large! More than half those you surveyed in your poll still believe, in whole or in part, that people choose to be gay - and consequently, reviled, spit upon or, worse, deprived of civil rights in the name of morality. We are who we are. It is not a matter of choice or morality.
Michael R. Boyle, San Diego

For all the media attention surrounding Shepard’s death, the fact remains that he has passed into eternal hellfire. The Bible is clear; homosexuals do not inherit the kingdom of God.
(The Rev.) Donald Spitz, Director Pro-Life Virginia, Chesapeake, Va.

Anti-gays all share in the blame for Shepard’s beating and death. Their hate talk encourages and justifies hate crimes and discrimination and leads to suicides. Gay people do not want any special rights; they merely want the rights that everyone else has.
Kaye Western, Iowa City

You presented a skewed representation of the Christian viewpoint. One cannot judge all of us by the outspoken statements of a few. I, as a Christian, do not always agree with what James Dobson or Pat Robertson has to say, and it is erroneous to assume that the rest of Christians do. Shepard didn’t deserve to die, and I am angered by the implication that Christians such as myself are to blame for this horrible crime.
Christia D. Carawaly, Novi, Mich.

I hope that when the Kansas minister who has the godhatesfags.com website dies, he has to face a big lesbian God radiating divine love.
Linda Varela, Naco, Ariz.

If Pat Robertson thinks hurricanes hit Florida because of gays, how does he explain the overlap of the Bible Belt with Tornado Alley?
Tim Strand, Santa Fe, N.M.

I was raised in a fundamentalist religion. Here we say Oklahoma is the buckle of the Bible Belt, and Tulsa is the tongue of that buckle. I know what I am talking about. Whether Christian or Muslim, fundamentalists love to hate and hate to love.
Brent Dillahunty, Tulsa, Okla.

As a member of the worldwide gay community, I want to express my sympathy to the family and friends of Matthew Shepard, who was killed because he was gay [NATION, Oct. 26]. The murder of this young man is a crime against humanity. I was born in an era when homosexuality was even more misunderstood than it is today, and it was a criminal offense.

Most of my life was spent in a closet of shame. I have lately had the courage to overcome my cowardice and come out. I am now able to accept my place in society honestly and openly, even though I live a celibate life and do not expect that to change. Every event of hate like this can only take us back toward the darkness of our earlier ignorance.
COLIN HEWENS, Katikati, New Zealand

I have just changed my mind about the death penalty. I am no longer opposed to it. And I pray that Shepard's killers will receive it. As for the beyond-the-pale jokers of the far right who flatter themselves that they are closer to God than the rest of the world, their sentences are reserved for the Last Judgment. A surprise awaits them, for God loathes hubris.
RICHARD OLNEY, Sollies-Toucas, France

I am appalled by the so-called Christians who preach "God-sanctioned" hatred [NATION, Oct. 26]. Didn't Christ preach tolerance for his fellow man, regardless of his personal life-style?
JANNA PEEVLER, Knoxville, Tenn

Where in the far right's rhetoric is the grace that Jesus spoke about?
CLINT FREEMAN, Tokyo

Every now and then the Letters column draws as much mail as a TIME story. Dozens of readers, for example, have reacted to the column that contained letters on the death of young Wyomingite Matthew Shepard, cruelly killed apparently because of his gay sexual orientation [LETTERS,Nov. 16]. Some of the new letter writers, like Brenda Levy, of Melrose, Mass., said our original sampling was "extreme." Levy saw a "stereotype of opponents of gay rights as Christian Fundamentalists." Said she: "I am not a Christian, and I oppose the gay-rights movement. People can fall in love with anyone, but that does not justify changing laws or financing preferences." An overwhelming majority of recent letters, however, took aim at Christians who had expressed anti-homosexual views. Declared Marjorie Melanson, 89, of Georgetown, Mass.: "I have read millions of words and never read a more dreadful example of hatred and ignorance." Laurence J. Gillis of Rye, N.H., wrote, "Someday we may finally understand the depth of God's love--even for men who hate in his name."
Time Staff

As we neared the closing deadline for this special issue, we did one last tally of votes from readers on their choices for Person of the Year. We've had nominations ranging from Paula Jones to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Here's the count for the top vote getters: