When I first saw the headline above in the newspaper this morning, I did a double-take. The Tribune was calling someone a homophobe? That would be newsworthy. But, in fact, the paper was merely quoting Michael Reagan, who blames homosexuality for the fact that he was sexually abused at age seven and has struggled with the demons that accompany such an experience ever since. Quoth the Trib:
Reagan has become a strong opponent of same-sex marriage, saying its validation of homosexuality will push young people into sex that will inflict the "guilt and pain that I have lived with all my life."Later in the article, Reagan suggests that gay marriage will confuse children:
His book suggests that same-sex marriage could place young people at an increased risk of the kind of trauma he suffered. "If same-sex marriage becomes accepted as having equal validity with traditional heterosexual marriage, what kinds of social pressure will our children and grandchildren have to face?" he writes. "That's why today I can honestly say on my [radio] show, I admit it; I am homophobic,' " he writes. "If I wasn't homophobic before, I am today."It's hard to read this and keep a straight face, pardon the pun. Is Michael Reagan actually suggesting that giving gays the right to marry will pressure straight people into becoming gay? Good luck passing that argument off on anyone who's spent more than five minutes with a gay person, or five minutes seriously pondering the difficulties we face now and will undoubtedly continue to face, in one form or another, well into the adulthoods of the grandchildren of every delegate at the convention. Ron Reagan's speech on stem cell research at the Democratic National Convention was admittedly simplisticly optimistic in its tone, but his brother's understanding of his life, and of the impact of acceptance for gays on the lives of others, is just plain simplistic.
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