A Pro-Privacy, Pro-Life, Anti-Hate Crimes Reader Speaks Out

To Daryl Moore,

After reading your article ["Get Out of the Closet, Dick Cheney," LeftOut, by Daryl Moore, September 2000]-and so many others like it-I wanted to respond to some of your themes. I have not responded before to an article in OutSmart, but few others who read OutSmart believe what I believe.

Privacy was a very important concept to my liberal friends two years ago when President Clinton found himslelf fooling around with a subordinate-a sexual harrassment case if there ever was one. But now you imply that because the Cheneys have a gay daughter, it should influence the way they vote on issues.

The Cheneys are obviously struggling with the issue that their daughter is gay. Not all Americans celebrate the event of a coming out party like they passed the bar exam. Can you respect their effort to maintain a civil and loving relationship with a gay daughter even though they disagree on lifestyle? Sustaining a good relationship with a daughter with whom they disagree is compassion too.

Why is a gay person to be treated any differently under the law than other Americans? I am an American citizen. I vote based on what I believe to be the best for America and I do not ever want to be associated with a voting block, a union, a minority group of any kind. The Hate Crimes Bill has no basis in our Constitiution. How are some victims of crime to be treated differently than other victims? If my mother and I were assaulted and robbed by the same mean person, does the criminal get a longer sentence for assaulting me?

On the issue of abortion, the rape question makes me laugh until I fall over. You're probably a damned smart guy. I bet you already know that less than one percent of abortions are the result of rape. It barely registers. Abortion is inherently wrong and every American knows it. It is a means of avoiding responsibility. Interestingly, we never hear Katie Couric or Dan Rather break the news on any physical consequence to women who get abortions, like the recent revelation that there is a higher rate of certain cancers in women who get one.

I am not defensive about being pro-life. This country is the best place in the world to be, make no mistake about. The real question is, "Mr. Gore, are there any circumstances when it's wrong to have an abortion and are there any limits to this 'right'(although not found in the Constitution)?"

The military issue is simple. A person who joins the military loses most of his Constitutional rights. He cannot publicly criticize the president. He cannot protest a presidential decision to go to war, etc. He is taught to kill in order to defend U.S. interests. Announcing that you're gay and then joining the military is not an option. It is not the arena for social engineering.

About the GW Bush drug issue, perhaps you should know that a college classmate of Al Gore's (identifiable by name) claims the two smoked pot and did drugs routinely in college while Al Gore's grades suffered. Yes, Al Gore received some "F's" but you probably did not know that. The press won't take the gloves off on Al Gore. Not even with a named source put in front of the press's face.

I am sorry that every article I read in OutSmart is so biased. The only issues that matter are those showing how selfish people can be. I could not imagine going up to a presidential candidate and asking him, "What are you going to do for ME?" That's not what JFK said in 1961. People's hearts are not changed over night. Gays ought to work on their marketing before shoving unpopular legislation in front of liberal politicians.

Where is your sense of proportion in your article? Do you think Al Gore deserves a free pass on issues I raised just because you want him to win? Our world, as much as gays would like to believe, does not revolve around gay issues. It's unfortunate that a reader never gets a different opinion. -Mike Crowe [via the internet]

Daryl Moore responds:
Although I will not address every point in your letter, I would like to note:

• The Cheneys are not "obviously" struggling with the issue that their daughter is gay. They accepted it almost a decade ago. Indeed, Dick Cheney declined to seek his party's nomination for the presidency in '92 because he thought it would be an issue. There's a difference between struggling with an issue and lying about it.

• You are correct that the Constitution does not expressly state that a woman has a right to have an abortion. Why would it? The word "woman"-like the term abortion-does not appear in the Constitution. Under your strict construction of the Constitution, do women have rights?

• The military issue is simple. Gays and lesbians can do everything you said the military needs them to do if they choose to join. They can learn to kill. They can be barred from publicly criticizing the president, etc. They can even hate homosexuality. (Note, we call that self-hatred.)

In closing, I write an editorial column. It is called LeftOut. If you seek a sense of "proportion" on gay and lesbian issues, read the "straight" press or my counterpart's column, OutRight.