March 23, 1977

Homosexuals Threaten Civil Rights Causes

There is no getting around it - homosexuals are personality freaks.

This does not mean we should withhold from them the basic rights of citizenship or the compassion we extend to all of God's unfortunate creatures.

It does mean, emphatically, that we are not obligated to include them in those relationships of society depending upon normal behaviour.

Television has taught us to tolerate all manner of abnormal sexuality as "entertainment," Mary Hartman being the most boring and trashy example.  Having gained an accepted, if not approved, role in our culture it was inevitable that homosexuality would move on into more critical areas.

The full absurdity of a permissive attitude toward homosexuality was reached in recent weeks with ordination into the Episcopal priesthood of a self-declared lesbian, and with a ruling by the Minneapolis Commission on Civil Rights that the Big Brothers association has to recruit "gay" volunteers.

Ellen Marie Barrett, 30, who talks about her homosexuality freely, was one of two women ordained in the Church of the Holy Apostles at New York City.  Bishop Paul Moore, who performed the ceremony, declared, "Historically, many of the finest clergy in our church have had this personality structure, but only recently has the social climate made it possible for some to be open about it."

The bishop may be impressed, but many church goers are not.

Can a man having problems getting along with his wife rely on the advice of a lesbian priest?  Can a woman confessing sexual sins rely on the penance?

Churches are separated from the state so we can dismiss them from our lives if we choose to do so.  The dilemma of the Big Brothers organization, however, intrudes with legal force.

Big Brothers has operated in Minneapolis for 45 years and provides a valuable service to society - male companionship for fatherless boys.

Two years ago a man named Johnson applied to be a big brother.  As reference he gave the name of a well know gay activist.

When Johnson was asked if he was a homosexual he stated his "serious affections are reserved for persons of the same gender."

This flabbergasted Big Brothers officials, but they recognized they had been trapped into a confrontation.  Big Brothers came up with what appeared to be a Solomonic decision; they would not bar homosexuals, but they would pass along to mothers the character "qualifications" of any volunteer associating with her son.

Johnson complained to the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission that this policy violated his civil rights and a local ordinance forbidding public accommodations to discriminate on the basis of "affectional preference."

The commission's staff, after many months of "study", agreed with Johnson and suggested an "equitable" settlement:

• Big Brothers would no longer request or disseminate information about the affectional preferences of its volunteers.
• It would not use such information in making its own decisions unless a mother had submitted a special written request for it to do so.
• Big Brothers would place special advertisements for volunteers in gay publications, seek volunteer referrals from the area's Gay House, Inc., and send its staff to an educational seminar run by the Gay House.
• Big Brothers would pay damages and attorneys' fees.

At this writing Big Brothers awaits a decision of the Civil Rights Commission which heretofore has approved its staff recommendations pro forma.

This time, however, the arrogant bureaucrats who have pretty much taken over civil rights enforcement have a formidable opponent.  Big Brothers vows to take the case to the courts if, as expected, the commission rules against them.

I can't believe even the permissive courts can uphold so preposterous a position as now taken by the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission.

The civil rights of the mother to control the development of her fatherless son surely is superior to the fantasies of a sexual deviant.  A boy needs a man to model his own life after.  A pervert has no right to pass along his unnatural attitudes to an impressionable youngster.  A boy's civil right to be protected from potential molestation is paramount.

It is to be deeply regretted that the civil rights cause - decent treatment of all citizens - has fallen into the hands of extremists.  Legitimate grievances are being manipulated by a minority of social misfits.

The Equal Rights Amendment and school bussing will fail entirely if the just aims of these programs are not normalized.  Civil Rights authorities have so abused their power that a large majority of citizens are ready to scrap the whole mess.

Those women and blacks who feel they need "liberation" had better regain control of their movements and clean house or years of hard won progress will be lost.

Author: Lindsey Williams