They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
I was the conservative columnist for a newspaper that, according to the New York Times, has had double digit growth each year for the past decade while the rest of the newspaper industry is gasping for last breaths. Why is the triCityNews so successful? The paper aggressively ignores putting any content on the web.
I bring that up to explain to you why I can’t link to a column I wrote there last week. I have to reprint it below.
I wrote a column that I perceived was about public decorum and humility. The hate mail about me the paper printed this week called me a homophobe. Ow.
Now that might come as a surprise to some of the folks at Ricochet, since I’m building a reputation here as one of those conservo-libertarians who argues for marriage equality (my main point being there should be no government involvement, but if there is, it should be the same for all). It’s surprising then that I would be called a homophobe. Not that those who oppose gay marriage are homophobes – they certainly are not – but at least I appear to be more on the side of gays than the rest of America.
I’m asking you folks at Ricochet to read below and tell me if what I wrote is homophobic. There is a paragraph that references transvestites, but as I understand it, not all transvestites are gay (the root word being “vest” as in clothing).
I thought I was referencing a choice of behavior (what clothes to wear), not an innate quality. Seeing gay men doesn’t bother me, but I have to admit it – seeing guys in dresses gives me the willies. Tell Lady Gaga I was born this way.
There are lots of public behaviors I think lack humility and decorum. I don’t like scantily clad women in churches and restaurants, but I’m not commenting on their sexual orientations when I object. Other public behaviors I detest are acts of obnoxiousness, vulgarity, foolishness and atheism, but that doesn’t make me a bigot. I’m commenting on chosen behavior.
I understand some men are naturally effeminate. If it’s natural it doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t mean they are gay, either. They could just be European for all I know.
But “acting” bothers me. When a man acts effeminate on purpose, I think it is fair to comment on his attention-seeking performance. He’s being too “proud,” which is a sin after all.
The focus of my column wasn’t even on this subject – it was about public displays of vulgar art (if you can call it art) in Asbury Park. This one line about transvestites seems to be the focus of the criticism.
Being self-critical is hard. It often requires the help of a friend. So tell me Ricochet, after reading below, am I a homophobe?
Here’s the column:
If There Is Nude Art On Cookman Avenue, Then Ernesto Cullari Needs To Be Fired
When I was the Justified Right columnist in triCityNews for 8 years, I made sure that Asbury Park was a family values town. Cookman Avenue was once so puritanical in couture that men who worked at Steinbach’s Department Store were required to wear suits and women weren’t allowed to wear pants (as it should be).
When I turned Justified Right over to Ernesto Cullari, I also handed him a City where parents could shop with their children. Bawdy and salacious weirdness was kept hidden in places like The Empress Hotel after 2 a.m. and Rainbow Room columnist Steven Froias’ bedroom.
So last weekend I thought it would be nice to take the wife down to the monthly First Saturday celebration on Cookman Avenue to enjoy a lemonade and an old fashioned leisurely shopping stroll.
It completely slipped my mind that President Teleprompter had declared June a gay celebration month, which I guess means “Gaypril” on college campuses is no longer enough for them. That also meant there was a Gay Pride parade in Asbury Park the next day (isn’t “Pride” one of the 7 deadly sins?). I guess that’s why there were so many guys wearing women’s dresses and wigs Downtown. At least they were formally attired.
But when we walked into a Cookman Avenue museum, that’s when my suburban sensibilities were offended. After moving quickly past all the nude pictures, I was then assaulted by macramé penises and bejeweled vaginas that jettisoned from the walls. I need to go to confession just for writing those words. They made Asbury Park look like Caligula’s bedroom or Anthony Weiner’s twitter account.
That museum should thank Providence I didn’t have my daughter with me. I would have wrecked the joint like Jesus turning over the moneychangers’ tables in the temple.
This is Ernesto Cullari’s fault. Justified Right is not supposed to be just the bully pulpit of Asbury Park conservatism, it’s also conservatism’s nightstick.
This never would have happened on my watch. When I was stewarding family values in Asbury Park as the Justified Right columnist, I made sure breasts, penises and vaginas stayed covered as God intended since the fall of Eve. Children were welcomed in Asbury Park when I was here. If I were still here, there would have been a padlock on that museum door before First Saturday, a ceremonious burning of their literature and their space re-leased to a Christian reading room.
Clearly the latest influx of pervert “artists” to Asbury Park needs some Bible reading on humility. Try Psalm 147-6: “The LORD sustains the humble and casts the wicked to the ground.”
And if the LORD isn’t in the mood to cast the wicked to the ground, Justified Right is supposed to do it.
What’s with the juvenile fascination “artists” have with nakedness and sex anyway? Is it really such a mystery to them? True art is beautiful because it moves the soul and mind to places fresh, unique and unclaimed. Why show us our own body parts and functions that 6.5 billion people already see every day? That’s not art – it’s voyeuristic pornography. It doesn’t belong in a mile square city that boasts 40 churches. Which reminds me – why aren’t the 40 churches boycotting this smut? Do I have to do everything?
Now I have to bring back my proposed city ordinance that Asbury Park businesses be required to hang a placard on their door with movie ratings like G, PG, R and NC-17. Or in the case of that museum, “Closed.”
So Ernesto – I’m coming back 4th of July weekend, and as usual I’ll be surrounded by a bunch of kids, who Asbury Park was made for. Make sure the only nuts we see are the salted variety sold by Mr. Peanut.
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Comments:
May '10
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
It means that they do not want to listen to your argument. Therefore they will call you a name that justifies banning you from speaking.
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
PC.
Dec '10
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
You mentioned Jesus, family values, and church, so it must have been nothing more than a hate-filled, homophobic rant.
But seriously, your criticism would have been the same had it been heterofest and their "art" on display. Decency is the same regardless of sexual orientation, but getting some people to understand that is a very daunting task.
Jun '10
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
As I understand it a homophobe is someone who is afraid of homosexuals. You do not appear to be afraid of homosexuals, thus I don't think you are a homophobe.
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
The King Prawn: You mentioned Jesus, family values, and church, so it must have been nothing more than a hate-filled, homophobic rant.
But seriously, your criticism would have been the same had it been heterofest and their "art" on display. Decency is the same regardless of sexual orientation, but getting some people to understand that is a very daunting task. · Jun 24 at 10:12am
You made that point better than I did.
Jul '10
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
So, if I handed a kid a picture of " breasts, penises and vaginas" ,then I'm a pervert and should be arrested. But if I hung that picture on a wall it's called "art" and could get away with showing the same kid the same picture.
Makes sense.
Mar '11
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
First, I'd suggest you drop the term "homophobe." It's a made-up, political label that pushes an agenda and makes no literal sense. I place it in the same abominable class as "pro-choice."
Second, what would happen if enough activists claimed that transvestites were born that way? Would that be enough to convince you that your distaste for them was bigoted, and that any failure to give full recognition to this minority group was a violation of their civil rights?
May '10
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
The Left has been engaged in a 45 year tantrum that's mostly an angry expression of control. It's not just about doing what they want, but rubbing our faces in it. And they've learned that a few choice insults -- racist, homophobe, Islamophobe, etc. -- causes a pusillanimous majority to stop in their tracks, afraid to defend common sense and common decency.
The next step is to give it legal bite, like what Mark Steyn had to endure in Canada. [Or Europe, per Claire's post of a few hours ago.] I doubt if they could get away with it here without a complicit judicial system, but that seems to be the direction we're heading.
Edited on June 24, 2011 at 7:25pmJul '10
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
Straight, gay or transvestite, flaunting your sexuality in the public square is just distasteful.
And infantile. Most of us get the message at about age four that other people aren't charmed by a display of our private bits. But some people never grow up.
I don't call those people queers or nancy-boys. I call them Democrats.
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
What did you call me?
Oct '10
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
Anyone who says anything that may be remotely construed as not strictly conforming to the radical gay agenda is a homophobe. Wear the label as a badge of honor. Having that settled, please never post that picture again. It may give you the willies, but it causes me queasiness, general unease, projectile vomiting, irritable bowel, dizziness, temporary blindness, dementia and a case of the heebie jeebies.
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
I struggled with posting that pic myself. I agree with you. I fixed it.
I do think a picture drives home my point, so I put up another. It's not quite as willie inducing (though bad enough).
Edited on June 24, 2011 at 7:35pmDec '10
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
Get used to it. The left doesn't argue, it attacks. Reasoning with them is futile.
Mar '11
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
Three points, Tommy, as one who has also been on the pro-gay marriage side of things on Ricochet:
1) There is a radical agenda out on the far left that seeks the abolition of all standards and refuses to recognize any level of discretion or any standard. Thankfully, it is a very small portion of the country--most people, gays included, have common sense.
2) That picture......really? On Ricochet? Isn't that a CoC violation? Editors?
3) The decline of art in the West generally is something we should be concerned about. I have no problem with either the nude male or female forms as we find them in Greek, Roman, Renaissance or higher art forms (many are quite sexual, but they always point beyond themselves). The idea that sex, and specifically the sex organs, should define and circumscribe art is nonsense and tasteless. It is Cretanism (with apologies to the Cretans in Plato's Laws and the founders of the Greek world).
At the same time, we have the likes of Mark Rothko: his art isn't inappropriate, it is just completely meaningless. Which is why I said: the decline of high art is a conservative problem.
Nov '10
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
Your comments about the Gay Pride Parade struck a note with me as I had just finished reading an article in The Globe & Mail (Toronto daily newspaper) about a kerfuffle made by Paul Aguirre-Livingston a young gay writer for The Grid (Toronto weekly) Quoting from Globe writer Marcus Gee "40 years after New York's Stonewall Riots Paul wrote "a new generation of 20-something urban gays - my generation - has the freedom to live exactly the way we want." This generation of "post - modern homos" or post-mos grew up loathing "hyper sexed fools on floats""
This article raised 400 comments! Apparently it made "some people think" but most took the line that this urban whipper snapper was ... a homophobe ....
So no, I don't think you're a homophobe and right now I'm trying to recover from whiplash. Isn't it a good thing when young homosexuals feel they can define themselves as 'normal' and not in need of a 'Pride' march? Isn't that what the struggle was all about?
Feb '11
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
I don't want to touch off a theological debate, but doesn't your use of "since the fall of Eve" (i.e., not Adam and Eve) make you a sexist? After all, they were both told to put their clothes on and get out. (If I had a nickel for every time...) :)
Jul '10
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
Crow's Nest:
At the same time, we have the likes of Mark Rothko: his art isn't inappropriate, it is just completely meaningless.
I happen to like Rothko's stuff. I couldn't tell you why, but I do.
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
I love your comment. I have to tell you my experience is exactly that. The City I come from has a big gay population, but honestly they are small business folks who dress and act like everyone else (lots of them political conservatives).
They are the first to roll their eyes at the City's annual gay pride parade, because they feel the show offs hurt them more than anyone else.
There are no TV cameras that show up to video these guys turning the key to the door of their small business every morning at 8 a.m., but let one out of town gay man don a pair of butt-less chaps on float....
One gay business owner made the point to me very well: "Imagine if every time the TV showed a Republican, it was David Duke."
He laughed when I responded, "They do."
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
Kenneth
Crow's Nest:
At the same time, we have the likes of Mark Rothko: his art isn't inappropriate, it is just completely meaningless.
I happen to like Rothko's stuff. I couldn't tell you why, but I do. · Jun 24 at 11:09am
Standardless commie.
Re: They Called Me Homophobic. What Does That Mean?
You're right. Please don't anyone show this to my wife.