2008 Woodie Awards
Gay rights struggle is not a civil rights struggle
Stephen Moss
Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: Opinion
While I appreciate Emily Holladay’s passion and devotion to the rights of all people, I must take issue with the comparison she made in last week’s column, “Celebrate civil rights.”
I do not write this response to argue the issue of gay rights. I believe homosexuals are Americans like the rest of us and deserve the basic rights that other Americans have. While I disagree with their lifestyle, I am called as a child of God to love them and recognize their intrinsic dignity and value as fellow creations of the Living God.
But this is not my point. Instead, I found it somewhat distasteful to use Black History Month to suggest that today’s gay rights movement is comparable to the civil rights movement and its leaders, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, etc.
There may be inequalities today in America that homosexuals face, and the legality or morality of these can be endlessly debated. However, whatever “discrimination” is faced by homosexuals in America today cannot be compared to the terrors and egregious injustices that were perpetrated against African-Americans throughout much of American history.
First of all, homosexuals have never been enslaved in this country or bought and sold as property. Secondly, there are no laws in the books actively discriminating against homosexuals like the Jim Crow laws.
Homosexuals are not being turned away from straight restaurants, they are not being forced to give up their seats on buses to straight people, and they are not banned from drinking from straight water fountains.
If someone throws a brick through a homosexual’s window or burns down his or her home, the authorities would quickly and effectively respond while activists swoop in and call for the perpetrators to be penalized to the fullest extent of the law.
No such justice existed for many African-Americans in our very city of Birmingham mere decades ago. When similar or worse attacks were perpetrated against them, quite often a blind eye was turned toward them by the authorities, who in many cases might have even been involved in the crime.
One may bring up the fact that homosexuals are not allowed to be in the military as an example of the government actively discriminating.
First of all, it is a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Homosexuals are allowed to enlist, but they are not allowed to openly profess their orientation. For them to do so could be considered extremely disruptive to the functioning of our armed forces.
If you want to blame anyone for the injustices homosexuals in the military face, blame their fellow soldiers (whose opinions also happen to be protected by the Constitution), but don’t blame the government.
African-Americans, on the other hand, never had the opportunity to not ask or tell. They could not hide.
All of this is to say, the merits of the modern “civil rights movement” can be debated. But please do not compare the gay rights movement to the civil rights movement.
This month in which we celebrate the history of the African-American people should instead focus on their enormous accomplishments and bravery in overcoming atrocities that were far beyond anything anyone faces today in this country.
Stephen Moss is a sophomore journalism and mass communication major from Panama City Beach, Fla.
I do not write this response to argue the issue of gay rights. I believe homosexuals are Americans like the rest of us and deserve the basic rights that other Americans have. While I disagree with their lifestyle, I am called as a child of God to love them and recognize their intrinsic dignity and value as fellow creations of the Living God.
But this is not my point. Instead, I found it somewhat distasteful to use Black History Month to suggest that today’s gay rights movement is comparable to the civil rights movement and its leaders, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, etc.
There may be inequalities today in America that homosexuals face, and the legality or morality of these can be endlessly debated. However, whatever “discrimination” is faced by homosexuals in America today cannot be compared to the terrors and egregious injustices that were perpetrated against African-Americans throughout much of American history.
First of all, homosexuals have never been enslaved in this country or bought and sold as property. Secondly, there are no laws in the books actively discriminating against homosexuals like the Jim Crow laws.
Homosexuals are not being turned away from straight restaurants, they are not being forced to give up their seats on buses to straight people, and they are not banned from drinking from straight water fountains.
If someone throws a brick through a homosexual’s window or burns down his or her home, the authorities would quickly and effectively respond while activists swoop in and call for the perpetrators to be penalized to the fullest extent of the law.
No such justice existed for many African-Americans in our very city of Birmingham mere decades ago. When similar or worse attacks were perpetrated against them, quite often a blind eye was turned toward them by the authorities, who in many cases might have even been involved in the crime.
One may bring up the fact that homosexuals are not allowed to be in the military as an example of the government actively discriminating.
First of all, it is a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Homosexuals are allowed to enlist, but they are not allowed to openly profess their orientation. For them to do so could be considered extremely disruptive to the functioning of our armed forces.
If you want to blame anyone for the injustices homosexuals in the military face, blame their fellow soldiers (whose opinions also happen to be protected by the Constitution), but don’t blame the government.
African-Americans, on the other hand, never had the opportunity to not ask or tell. They could not hide.
All of this is to say, the merits of the modern “civil rights movement” can be debated. But please do not compare the gay rights movement to the civil rights movement.
This month in which we celebrate the history of the African-American people should instead focus on their enormous accomplishments and bravery in overcoming atrocities that were far beyond anything anyone faces today in this country.
Stephen Moss is a sophomore journalism and mass communication major from Panama City Beach, Fla.