The Washington Blade’s Kevin Naff reflects on the Penn State/Jery Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal and how some anti-gay groups are trotting out their gay = pedophile propaganda. But what’s striking is the absence of a homophobic backlash, which we would certainly have seen in years past.
More. The social conservatives give it the old try.
7 Comments for “Penn State”
posted by Tom Scharbach on
But what’s striking is the absence of a homophobic backlash, which we would certainly have seen in years past.
It is an indication of the progress that we’ve made because millions of us have come out to our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Lies don’t get traction when the people being lied to know the men and women being lied about.
posted by Throbert McGee on
I think it may also be creditable to decades of public-education campaigns about pedophilia as a phenomenon; people are better aware that many child molesters are in a psychological category by themselves, and that they can’t be neatly mapped onto the hetero/homo categories of adults who are attracted to other adults.
posted by Houndentenor on
I think far more people are concerned about protecting children from abusers than they are about exploiting this tragedy for political purposes.
posted by BobN on
Had this scandal occurred at a school with a liberal tradition, overseen by staunch Democrats, you bet there would have been a broader attack on gay people. As it is, the political affiliations of the perpetrators are, shall we say, inconvenient for those who would seek to smear us.
And what’s with the word “backlash”? A backlash is a reaction in response to a previous action. Gay folks had nothing to do with this incident.
posted by Throbert McGee on
It’s possible that BobN is overstating the significance of a school‘s overall political leaning, but otherwise, he’s on the right track.
If the individuals in the Penn State scandal (Sandusky, Paterno, McQueary, Curley, and others) had merely been known as vocal supporters of gay rights, or had some other sort of vague political links with the gay community (without being gay themselves), we’d be seeing a lot more right-wing attempts to tar the LGBT community as a whole, in the fallout from the Penn State events.
posted by Tom Scharbach on
The facts that (1) all the players involved (as far as I know) are married, and (2) the scandal emerged from the heart of macho culture are probably factors, as well.
posted by Jorge on
Okay.
I had that nagging worry in my mind, too.