It’s a sunny mid-June day, and as I emerge from my slumber, I am immediately greeted with homophobia on my phone.
“It seems to follow then that discouraging same-sex relations would be the obvious thing to do, and failing to do so would be a huge disservice to the public.”
CHARLIE DANAHER – Longmont Times-call
“They’ll claim that any depression gays and transgender people experience is a result of bigotry. Don’t believe it.”
CHARLIE DANAHER – LONGMONT TIMES-CALL
“When you see the rainbow flags this month, ask yourself, are we really doing them a favor by acting like everything’s fine, when it’s not? Let’s love them, and tell them the truth.”
CHARLIE DANAHER – LONGMONT TIMES-CALL
Thankfully, Debra Pollock, CEO of The Center on Colfax; Mardi Moore, Executive Director of Out Boulder; and Jason Marsden, Executive Director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation; co-signed a letter that was sent to the Longmont Times-Call in response.
Here is the full copy of the letter:
On June 15 and 16, hundreds of thousands of people united at Denver PrideFest in an incredible display of diversity to celebrate the significant progress that the LGBTQ community has made since the Stonewall Riots, the historic events that sparked the LGBTQ civil rights movement 50 years ago. The celebration of diversity continues at Longmont Pride on Saturday, June 22.
So, it was with great sadness that during Pride Month we got a vivid reminder that in spite of the past five decades of progress, our community is still threatened by ignorance and bigotry. Charlie Danaher’s op-ed in the Times-Call on June 8 was ugly and hateful and demands a response.
Mr. Danaher claimed to be speaking from love, but his “concern” for the gay community manifests itself in the belief that following the “gay lifestyle” is dangerous and should be discouraged. There is nothing loving about suggesting that certain individuals in society should be prevented from pursuing relationships with partners of their choice. To promote this idea under the guise of protecting and improving public health is both dishonest and disgusting.
Mr. Danaher’s message to LGBTQ readers is that if we can just prevent you from being yourself, everything will be fine. That attitude is so destructive, outdated, and discredited it’s hard to imagine that in 2019, someone still believes it’s helpful. Framing homosexuality as a “choice” that is flawed, diseased and wrong is extremely damaging and makes it difficult for members of the LGBTQ community to be their authentic selves. It’s this type of rhetoric that encourages discrimination, rejection and harassment of LGBTQ people.
Further, while Mr. Danaher argues that gay sex is the root of all that ails the LGBTQ community, the CDC reports that homophobia is the real problem:
Negative beliefs and actions can affect the physical and mental health of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, whether they seek and are able to get health services, and the quality of the services they may receive. Such barriers to health must be addressed at different levels of society, such as health care settings, work places, and schools to improve the health of gay and bisexual men throughout their lives.
Denver PrideFest is a chance for everyone to be their authentic selves without fear of being bullied or shamed or assaulted. Like the 80 year old who finally felt safe to be himself after all those years pretending to be someone else. Or the transgender woman who came out in public as herself for the first time.
Before Stonewall, a lot of people spent their entire lives in the closet. But now it’s 2019, and we have news for Mr. Danaher. We are out of the closet and we’re not going back. Stereotypes still linger, but no amount of ignorance or bigotry can reverse all the progress we’ve made since Stonewall. We are committed to advocate for unity, understanding, and acceptance of all people regardless of how they see themselves or who they love. That’s the way to show people that you love them, and that’s the message we send loud and clear during PrideFest.
You want to make a case for local journalism? You have just made a case against it. You want to try and compete with large national papers? You have just sold out every other writer and journalist you have on staff.
Every small publisher believes in a future filled with diverse voices and in other publications adding to the public discourse. This, however, is vile and dangerous rhetoric that adds nothing to the discourse, leaves vast demographics behind, and does nothing but spur more hatred and discrimination.
So good job, Times-Call, I’ll be waiting for a statement that indicates your remorse for ever having decided to give this horrifying opinion a platform and that affirms you have properly assessed what you have done by means of a necessary, but most likely, traditionally slapdash apology. A local newspaper such as the Times-Call needs to report on local issues and has no business giving the mic to bigots for them to spew their hate.