It's been a while since I beat on this drum, so why not make a little noise?
Matthew Shepard. A household name. Probably half of all adults have heard his name at least once or could tell you his story. Made national headlines. A Made-for-TV movie. Tragic victim. Poster-boy for "Hate Crime" legislation. His death saddens and disgusts me. Needless and tragic.
Jesse Dirkhising. Thirteen years old. Chances are very, very good that less than 2 people in 10,000 have ever heard of this kid's tragic death. (Attention gay-activists: I'm not going where you think I'm going, work with me here.)
Conservatives, myself included, have tried to make Jesse's death and subsequent lack of main-stream media coverage an example of our perception of a liberal bias in news reporting and coverage. Personally, I think a quick examination of facts regarding the coverage will prove that correct, but that's not my point today. Then what is?
I'm a little appalled and disgusted at what I read in the oxymoronishly named main-stream gay media. Specifically a 3-part editorial debate in the Independent Gay Forum regarding Jesse's death, the coverage, their interpretation of traditional conservative views, and most importantly, the flippancy of the actual death that columnist Paul Varnell almost dismisses and all but defends. He uses words like "apparently" and phrases like "There is no evidence that the two men intended to kill the youth: They called an ambulance when they found he had stopped breathing." Imagine for a moment the outcry if someone, conservative of course, implied that same sentiment regarding the killers of Matthew Shephard. Imagine: "There was no evidence Shepard's killers intended to kill him: They called an ambulance when they found he had stopped breathing." Varnell almost suggests that Jesse's killers were doing him a favor by calling him an ambulance. Well, after one of them stopped sticking things in Jesse's feces smeared buttocks long enough to make a sandwich, they noticed that he wasn't breathing. Imagine being 13 years old and being duct taped to a mattress in the living room by 2 men you trusted, ass up, face down, (isn't that an Ani DiFranco song?!) with a pair of your own dirty underwear shoved and duct taped in your mouth. Breathing would be difficult while your rectum bleeds as it is being stuffed with everything from fruit and phones to penises. Don't expect an HBO special of this.
Does this change or confirm any opinions I have about homosexual men? No, not at all. I have no real problem with homosexual men or women, as long as they are adults and don't try to preach their agenda to my kids. In the same respect, I try hard not to preach my agenda to their kids. I can love the sinner and hate the sin. I don't think the actions of a few miscreants should cast a cloud of mistrust on the rest of the group. In the same way, the actions of a few (statistically) pedophilliac priests should not be used to condemn all the other wonderful priests around the country. But, that's the topic of another show.
I am happy, though, to see that the gay community is actually not just concentrating on bashing the conservative view of Jesse's death, but actually considering some of the bigger implications. It's almost as though they agree with what we've been saying about the coverage and have taken it up a notch to consider some other issues in their community. Interesting.
Matthew Shepard. A household name. Probably half of all adults have heard his name at least once or could tell you his story. Made national headlines. A Made-for-TV movie. Tragic victim. Poster-boy for "Hate Crime" legislation. His death saddens and disgusts me. Needless and tragic.
Jesse Dirkhising. Thirteen years old. Chances are very, very good that less than 2 people in 10,000 have ever heard of this kid's tragic death. (Attention gay-activists: I'm not going where you think I'm going, work with me here.)
Conservatives, myself included, have tried to make Jesse's death and subsequent lack of main-stream media coverage an example of our perception of a liberal bias in news reporting and coverage. Personally, I think a quick examination of facts regarding the coverage will prove that correct, but that's not my point today. Then what is?
I'm a little appalled and disgusted at what I read in the oxymoronishly named main-stream gay media. Specifically a 3-part editorial debate in the Independent Gay Forum regarding Jesse's death, the coverage, their interpretation of traditional conservative views, and most importantly, the flippancy of the actual death that columnist Paul Varnell almost dismisses and all but defends. He uses words like "apparently" and phrases like "There is no evidence that the two men intended to kill the youth: They called an ambulance when they found he had stopped breathing." Imagine for a moment the outcry if someone, conservative of course, implied that same sentiment regarding the killers of Matthew Shephard. Imagine: "There was no evidence Shepard's killers intended to kill him: They called an ambulance when they found he had stopped breathing." Varnell almost suggests that Jesse's killers were doing him a favor by calling him an ambulance. Well, after one of them stopped sticking things in Jesse's feces smeared buttocks long enough to make a sandwich, they noticed that he wasn't breathing. Imagine being 13 years old and being duct taped to a mattress in the living room by 2 men you trusted, ass up, face down, (isn't that an Ani DiFranco song?!) with a pair of your own dirty underwear shoved and duct taped in your mouth. Breathing would be difficult while your rectum bleeds as it is being stuffed with everything from fruit and phones to penises. Don't expect an HBO special of this.
Does this change or confirm any opinions I have about homosexual men? No, not at all. I have no real problem with homosexual men or women, as long as they are adults and don't try to preach their agenda to my kids. In the same respect, I try hard not to preach my agenda to their kids. I can love the sinner and hate the sin. I don't think the actions of a few miscreants should cast a cloud of mistrust on the rest of the group. In the same way, the actions of a few (statistically) pedophilliac priests should not be used to condemn all the other wonderful priests around the country. But, that's the topic of another show.
I am happy, though, to see that the gay community is actually not just concentrating on bashing the conservative view of Jesse's death, but actually considering some of the bigger implications. It's almost as though they agree with what we've been saying about the coverage and have taken it up a notch to consider some other issues in their community. Interesting.
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