Hate Crimes Bill Introduced in Congress
Commentary by ex-gay Greg Quinlan
WASHINGTON, April 20 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Greg Quinlan submits the following and is available for comment:
What happens when ex-gays come out of the closet? When I staffed the exhibit booth for the Ex-Gay Educators Caucus, Wayne Besen, the former spokesperson for the gay Human Rights Campaign, approached our booth to insult us for having the audacity to live as heterosexuals. He took photos for his ex-gay bashing website which targets the ex-gay community for ridicule and harassment. Mr. Besen and gay rights organizations do not believe ex-gays are entitled to the same rights and respect that gays currently enjoy. They picket ex-gay conferences and protest vigorously against ex-gay equal access.
In his continuing zeal to discredit the ex-gay community, Besen likes to bully ex-gays by insisting that we still look "gay." When he was Director of Communications for the Human Rights Campaign, Besen delighted in telling me to "butch up" so "normal people" wouldn't think I'm still "gay." See his emails at
pfox.org/Human-Rights-Campaign-Hate-Against-Ex-Gays.pdf
At the booth, Besen stuck his finger in my face and called me a "fu*king fag*ot," "fu*king co*ksucker," "nellie fairy," etc. "You're still having gay sex," he yelled at me. We had to call security to remove him because we were scared for our safety.
Hate against ex-gays like me is all too common. What will happen when Congress passes a Hate Crimes Prevention Act for gays? H.R. 1913 has now been introduced by Representatives John Conyers and Mark Kirk (R-IL).
With their hate officially protected by law, homosexuals will determine heterosexuality by censoring ex-gay speech or behavior they disagree with as "hateful," "dangerous," or "leading to physical violence." We know because this is what they already label us.
Think twice, America. Do you want to give gay activists the right to hate under the guise of a "civil rights" protection? Besen has now aligned himself with Lambda Legal, the nation's largest attorneys group "working for the civil rights of gay men."
Please oppose the Hate Crimes Bill. Unpopular minorities like former homosexuals deserve the right to be free and out. The hate spewed against heterosexuals after they voted against genderless marriage last fall shows that the gay lobby can scare us into silence. Let's not be silent.
