I detect a note of desperation in Mr. Ridge”s last two letters. especially the one of July 22, 2008. It has not been a good year for the G.O.P., and its future is provisional. So its time to demonize, criticize and categorize, scapegoat and use wedge issues to hide the real problems of the failed economy and a war policy that draining our country of its resources.
Evidently, Mr. Ridgel has forgotten as so many Americans have something call “freedom of expression”. It does not state how long, or how loud, nor unhappy as it might make some who listen. And gay Americans, citizens in every sense of the word are practicing these rights, and will continue to do so.
The “conspiracy of silence” that Mr. Ridgel and others might desire is buried in the deep past when men and women were jailed for embracing, beaten by homophobic policemen, shunned by family members, losing their jobs when their sexual identity was discovered. That”s the price of silence, and one we will no longer consider.
We as a people have survived the McCarthy witch hunts when homosexuality was equated with communism, the Anita Bryant campaign of hate, and a plague that was ignored by our government until it became a heterosexual problem.
I think we can survive a directive from Mr. Ridgel insisting or is it demanding that we be silent in consideration of his personal feelings. No, you may bolt the door, buy ear plugs, shout us down, but we will continue to be heard. I am challenging you and others that feel as you do to confront us, one on one.
It”s called “freedom of expression”, and I am not afraid of its consequences, only deeply concerned that it”s been almost eliminated in our present day traumatized country.
Harold Riley
Clearlake
