In response

Dear editor:
In response to Donald Clink’s letter, “Dream world,” dated June 4. Life must be grand behind those rose-coloured glasses you wear and the religious cross many hide behind and use to validate their disdain for homosexuals.
Mr. Clink, I am all for free speech, with the exception of free speech that teaches hatred and intolerance of minority groups. I draw the line on free speech when groups like the white supremacy movement teach hatred of all non-whites, Jews, and homosexuals.
In addition, religious groups who teach our children that homosexuals are “unnatural or immoral” (those were your words, Mr. Clink). So yes, free speech should be gagged when you cross this line.
As for those who regard homosexuality as unnatural, one only has to look to the animal kingdom for the answer—homosexual sex is common among many species.
Let me remind you that on Dec. 14, 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the list of officially recognized mental disorders. This after many years of research trying to change a homosexual orientation to that of a heterosexual—and the realization that homosexuality is not only normal but common among many species.
Mr. Clink, I obviously need to remind you that there was a time when women were not considered persons, nor allowed to vote, and blacks were seen as less than human. In essence, I’m saying times change, culture changes, and it’s time for people to set aside our prejudice and embrace and celebrate our differences.
In response to the scientific research you provided in your letter, Mr. Clink, to put is simply—junk science! Any scientist with integrity knows that the first rule of sound scientific research is that of objectivity.
It’s interesting that the scientists you listed in your letter all have links to their religious views as well. Their bias and predetermined agenda are so apparent it’s laughable.
Any objective scientist can find many confounding factors in these studies to invalidate them. For those searching for such research, be careful what you read when a religious agenda is apparent.
In addressing your comments on suicide rates among homosexual teens, the “self-loathing” I speak of is only one factor. Others include school bullying, and verbal and physical abuse by parents, among others. I do not believe, as you stated, that “the homosexual experience itself” is the cause of their suicide.
Personally, my first homosexual experience was like the parting of the Red Sea—my whole world finally made sense and I had the overwhelming sense of calm. That experience combated my previous feeling toward suicide.
Mr. Clink, I know you are a religious man, so let me appeal to that side of you. The great majority of wars in our human history were/are fought over religion. They fight on the premise that my God is better than your God (the Holocaust and 9/11 are just two examples).
Mr. Clink, would you like to know why there will never be peace in the Middle East? It’s because each generation teaches the next that their neighbour is the enemy; that my God is better than your God. The whole thing boils down to supremacy.
Change in the Middle East, and every other place for that matter, will never happen until we teach our children—the next generation—that differences should not divide us but unite us.
Mr. Clink and Mrs. Teeple, let me tell you what I will teach my children: that just because some people have different belief systems does not make them immoral or unnatural, and that one belief system is not superior to another.
I will teach them that instead of judging people on stereotypes or some religious standard, take the time to get to know someone, and judge them on the merits of their actions and how they treat others.
Sincerely,
J.J. Witherspoon
Toronto, Ont.