This is a letter to the editor I published at the Daily Advance. Posted here for posterity, since they have no online archive:
The more than 100 people attending Currituck’s Board of Education meeting in opposition to Ms. Danielle Smiley’s efforts to establish a Gay-Straight Alliance in her school is exactly why such a club is so desperately needed in our community. The protesters’ slippery-slope, distractive arguments about AIDS and promiscuity are symptomatic of a profound ignorance and xenophobia toward homosexuals that can only be remedied through public education and an open exchange of perspectives.
The Bible mentions homosexuality a scant 12 times throughout its entire epic text, and Jesus never even mentioned homosexuality; yet, the Bible addresses poverty more than 250 times. Maybe if Charles Stevens, James Harrington, Scott Pollard, and their respective flocks would realign their energies with the almighty’s priorities we wouldn’t have such rampant poverty in our local communities. There is a very strong correlation between poverty, incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and promiscuity. Education is the best prevention we have for AIDS and risky sexual behaviors.
Only someone who lacks strength in their convictions would fear open dialogue, as these protesters obviously do concerning the topic of sexual orientation. Ms. Danielle Smiley, on the other hand, obviously understands the veracity of her position, demonstrated in her courageous act of facing down the more than 100 ideological bullies who would strip her of her Constitutionally-protected freedom of speech.
I have homosexual friends, and not once have I ever been tempted to try their lifestyle. That’s because I’m very secure in my heterosexuality. Scott Pollard’s over-the-top hysterical reaction to homosexuality becoming the “topic of open discussion in the public schools” reminds me of the Shakespeare quote from “Hamlet,” “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”