This week homophobic Christianist hate group leader Peter LaBarbera launched something he calls the “Pedo-files”. It’s basically the same nonsense we’ve been getting from homophobic Christianists for decades. He claims that many if not most gay men are out to get into the pants of young boys, and that these experiences somehow causes boys to later identify as gay. LaBarbera is desperate for us to see the connection, and he warns that the media, and I suppose law enforcement and the medical establishment are involved in a giant conspiracy to hide this connection.
His first “pedo-file” focuses on something Larry Kramer once wrote. Something about how not every instance of someone over the age of 18 having sex with someone under the age of 18 is traumatic and abusive. Larry Kramer is certainly entitled to his opinion, and he’s entitled to share his thoughts and experiences. But it should be noted that even though he might be “celebrated” as an “advocate” for LGBT rights, he does not speak for all LGBT people, and his celebrity status certainly doesn’t rest on his understanding of teenage sexuality. I don’t think even he would try to pass himself off as an expert in this area. He was just sharing his thoughts.
I’m sure it won’t be long before LaBarbera reminds us that Harvey Milk once had a romantic relationship with a sixteen-year-old young man, and that Milk used to sneak off to the city to have sexual encounters with men when he was a teenager. Never mind that Milk’s sixteen-year-old boyfriend came to New York City because it would have been impossible for him to admit to and pursue his sexual and romantic feelings if he had remained in the hick southern town were he was raised. Never mind that Milk probably wouldn’t have been messing around in the bushes with strangers when he was in high school if he had been allowed to date with the full knowledge, support and understanding of his peers and family.
People like LaBarbera don’t really see us as human. As long as we identify as gay, they’re going to assume that we’re some kind of dangerous, scary subspecies that adheres to a cartoonish, ridiculous modus operandi that only exists inside of their heads. They will comb through TV programs, movies, books, public statements, and police records looking for bits of information that might arguably lend credence to their preconceived notions, and when they find something, they will hold it up as proof that they were right about us all along. But their efforts only prove how desperate they are to justify their ignorance, bigotry and hate.
If their methods were valid, what group could withstand such scrutiny? What if all Christians were judged by what Christianists say and do? What if all men were judged by those who rape and murder? What if our Founding Fathers were judged and dismissed as completely and utterly evil, and everything they did viewed as wicked because some of them owned slaves? What if we refused to listen to any piece of music created by anyone ever arrested on a DUI charge?
If we started throwing people away because they make mistakes or if they fail to accept every jot and tittle of our personal moral code, who would be left? What group would be acceptable to us if every member was expected to be perfect in our eyes?
The next time Huffington Post runs a story about a hot female teacher diddling a teenage football player, scroll down to the comments section and you’ll find dozens and dozens of comments made by presumably heterosexual men who boldly claim no abuse took place and that the hot female teacher shouldn’t be punished.
What do these stories say about heterosexual female teachers in general? What do their defenders’ comments say about heterosexual men in general? Nothing really. It just goes to show that people have a wide variety of experiences, beliefs, attitudes and opinions. Why should gay people be any different?
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