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In Reply to: Re: homophobia is not the correct word. posted by Joseph on August 19, 2002 at 05:49:05:
I agree with you Joseph. And from your description, the forum allowed for all within the same perimeters. As I said above, I misunderstood the point of your post, and I don't see you as homophobic according to what you have explained. Sorry, again, for being so quick to jump to conclusions at times. I don't believe in extra rights, but I do believe in hate crimes, and that not actually being an extra right, but a neccesity in some states. Probably because in the "Bible Belt" gays are often targeted just because of their sexuality or perceived sexuality. I personally know a girl from Austin that had her partner murdered and was nearly murdered herself. They were walking home after a night out on the town, (both in their early 20's) and a guy in a pick up truck got one, raped and killed her, and tried to get the other, but she escaped into some brush on the roadside and traffic was coming so he fled. Even though the truck was tracked down and other evidence, the law did not pursue it. There are also other hate crimes like James Byrd who was dragged to death behind a truck because he was black. These are atrocities that still occur in the south at alarming rates, even moreso with the gay community. I would recommend the movie "Torch Song Trilogy" with Matthew Broderick and Anne Bancroft as an excellent movie to understand gay bashing. Many churches that are "Christian" fundamentalist in the bible belt encourage hatred towards gays. So I think there is a very valid point to the issue of "hate crimes".
