Subject: Letters to the Editor: AIDS and Deep Denial
Date: Published: 5/26/93 (109 lines)
Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc.

    Letters to the Editor:
    AIDS and Deep Denial

    language is a map of the brain then your May 3 page one article
 "Fighting Words" points out all the dead ends, wrong turns and
 one-way streets associated with the use of the term "gay."  In fact,
 many of us despise the term for a variety of reasons.  Some of us
 believe that the term "gay" bespeaks noisy, self-indulgent brats who
 make every decision based on sexual urges with members of the same
 sex.  Some of us are deeply embarrassed by the gay agenda, which
 plans the end of "breeders" (heterosexuals) through a takeover of
 public education.  Some of us are angry that mass media rolls over so
 easily, giving credibility to the absurd term "gay."  It's
 homosexual, stupid!
    Gay activists are in deep denial.  Are gays marching in the
 streets demanding closure of numerous gay sex clubs that breed HIV
 and AIDS?  Homosexuals can't even get the "gays" to admit that gay
 sex clubs are a danger.
    Are "gay activists" marching in the streets to urge cocaine and
 crack abstinence?  Homosexuals can't even get the "gay community" to
 admit that unbridled use of these drugs among gays is the single
 most important element in the spread of AIDS.  Are gays marching in
 the street to stop the flood of illegal immigration, the
 skyrocketing murder rate, the heritage of a ballooning national
 debt, decline of SAT scores, government waste of tax dollars,
 pedophilia in the clergy, car-jacking?  No. Gays are tearing up the
 streets fighting the most important battle yet to confront humanity
 ...the repeal of sodomy laws.
    As a homosexual man dying of AIDS, I take full responsibility for
 my situation.  My death will not be this government's fault or Ronald
 Reagan's fault.  I don't need more funding by taxpayers as much as I
 need gays to admit that they are part of the problem and impeding a
 solution.  I will die a homosexual but I will not die "gay."
    Mark Dennis
    West Hollywood, Calif.
    ---
    Your May 3 article carried the headline "Gay, Lesbian Group Seeks
 to expunge Bias They See in Language."  There definitely is bias in
 language and the effort to change the language, which reflects the
 attitude of the public, should be encouraged.  I suspect, however,
 that homosexuals of both sexes will be deeply divided on what the
 appropriate language revisions should be.
    Your article points out that the linguistic battle goes back
 several decades, starting with the word "gay" itself.  For some
 reason or other, the media took up the use of the word "gay" (the
 media serves as an amplifier to anyone beating a particular drum and
 often brings about inadvisable or premature change).  As a result,
 our present language seems to have lost the highly pleasing word
 "gay" as it was used for centuries.  For example:  When hearts were
 young and gay
    Or:
    The gay caballero
    Or:
    A Poet could not but be gay in such a jocund company
    It would be an accomplishment to have the delightful word "gay"
 reclaimed and restored to its original use.
    Harold A. Segall
    New York
    ---
    It was appropriate that your April 21 page-one article "Going
 Straight:  Christian Groups Press Gay People to Take a Heterosexual
 Path" about evangelical "cures" for homosexuality appeared on the
 same page as an account of the Branch Davidian tragedy in Texas.  The
 misguided evangelical teaching of the "ex-gay" movement is as
 deluded and emotionally self-destructive as the mind-controlling
 religious excesses of David Koresh.  Religious attempts to "cure"
 homosexuality only illustrate again that many horrible and inhumane
 acts are done in the name of religion.
    All competent scientific evidence and all honest human experience
 show that sexual orientation is an immutable human biological
 characteristic.  The religious extremists who teach otherwise are
 simply engaged in a not so subtle form of bigotry or self-hate that
 inflicts unnecessary suffering on gays and lesbians.
    William D. Noonan, M. D. 
    Sherwood, Ore.
    ---
    Your article provided a fairly factual view on the reality of
 ex-gay ministries, but only to a point.  You cited predominantly
 charismatic, Pentecostal evangelical Christians involved in changing
 their sexual behavior from homosexual to heterosexual.  The breadth
 of the ex-gay work encompasses nearly all Christian influences.
    Second, there is very little pressure in these Christian groups
 to "press gay people to take a heterosexual path."  My Exodus
 ministry in Sacramento, Calif., is similar to many in the nation in
 that gay men and women call us looking for help.  We are very up
 front and open regarding the process of change.  Human behavior is
 difficult to change, particularly if it has been reinforced for many
 years.  There are also many factors that contribute to behavior.
 Change involves the whole person, not just ceasing homosexual
 activity.  Exodus does not offer a "straight pill," and frankly, that
 is what many people expect.
    And third, what motivates many Christian homosexual men and women
 toward a change is deeper than social pressure or perceived
 fanatical religious fervor.  We are men and women from all walks of
 life with varying religious experiences believing that there is more
 to life than being gay.  Simply being free from the pressure to
 identify with what being gay symbolizes today is life-changing.
    Bob Carlson
    Cornerstone Ministry
    Roseville, Calif.

[This article is made available here by Dow Jones Co. for the
 personal and non-commercial use of callers to this bbs, in the
 hope that it will be of some help to those who are suffering
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