Lyndsey VanAken, of Eaton Rapids, writes about small-town discrimination in her letter to the Lansing [ Michigan ] State Journal: "I never thought once that I would be discriminated against or harassed in my small town, but it has begun. Name calling, gestures and road rage. People are starting to figure out what that rainbow sticker on my car means. I am branded by my pride.
"I was born in this town. I was raised here —nearly 19 years. This town is my home and my comfort. Is this not where I should be safe? The harassment doesn't get to me, really. It's the fact that I am being persecuted by people younger than myself. High school boys, in fact. ..."
__________
Fighting back against religious bigotry, Michael J. Golojuch Jr. writes to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin: "I am the person who filed the complaint with the city to have the cross at St. Jude's removed. As an openly gay man and former member, who was confirmed through St. Jude's parish, you want to know what that cross represents to me every time I have to pass it on my way to and from my home?
"The cross is a reminder that the Catholic Church sees me and every other member of the gay community as a second-class citizen. So much so the bishop or one of his spokesmen fights to makes sure that the gay community does not receive the same rights as the straight community. They fight to make sure that we are not allowed to marry, keep our jobs, rent a place to live.
"So when most Catholics look at a cross and see a sign of 'compassion and self-sacrifice,' they need to realize that when I and millions of others look at a cross we see a sign of oppression, death and misery."
__________
Robert E. Waddell displays his ignorance in the Everett Herald: "I take issue with The Herald's April 19 editorial titled "U.S. must help Africa fight back against AIDS."
"For years, the liberal press has never told the truth regarding AIDS—if they had, the homosexuals and lesbians would have brought their full fury against them and this is why the liberals have kept silent. AIDS comes from a deviant lifestyle. C'mon, Herald, 'fess up. Be one of the few that does."
AIDS comes from a deviant lifestyle, huh? So, I guess, that as most cases of AIDS occur among straight people, then heterosexuality is a deviant lifestyle.
