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Kenning’s guilty of gross generalizations
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The sheer ignorance and bigotry of your columnist Jared Kenning
is remarkable. I can honestly say that I have not read a more
inaccurate and ludicrous article.
The one point Mr. Kenning had which I agree with is, “all
behaviors carry moral issues.” However, his support for this
makes him sound like a young Jerry Falwell.
When you make the contention that “homosexuals are more
apt to suffer from psychological disorders*”, who are you
comparing us to? You cannot compare the incidence of something in a
minority to the incidence of something in a majority. We have a
significantly decreased life expectancy? Well, so do left-handed
people, but that is not a “moral issue” is it?
Where do you get this information anyways? As a board member for
both ALPHA (Allies Linked for the Prevention of HIV and AIDS) and
the Regional Prevention Council for HIV, I am appalled that you had
the audacity to state, “AIDS is much more prevalent in
homosexuals.” Currently more heterosexual people of color
have AIDS and the incidence of HIV in heterosexuals in Europe
surpasses that of homosexuals.
For 20 years, AIDS activists have been trying to eliminate the
pervasive notion that AIDS is still a gay-related disease. Who are
you to bring it back to the forefront and spread another fallacy
about such a stigmatizing illness?
In regards to your claim that gay men are more promiscuous given
that you say you know a limited number of gay people is it not
possible that you are generalizing? Take any statistics course and
you will learn that what is seen in a sample cannot be easily
attributed to the population it represents.
The book that you cited took a sample of a mere 156 couples. The
ages of these couples were not stated. Gay men, like heterosexual
men, are more apt to settle down with age. Do the practices of 156
couples speak volumes about gay relationships? I think not. In any
group of people you are apt to find stupid, smart, ugly, beautiful,
tall, short, liberal and conservative individuals. “I think
that those who wish to be gay should have the right to be
gay.”
How idiotic for you to think that choice is an option. Why in
the world would I “choose” to be someone hated by my
family, cursed and ridiculed by my classmates, despised by my
religion, beaten and abused by strangers – not to mention
someone who could wind up dead?
Mr. Kenning, your apparent attempt to step in the shoes of a gay
person and understand where we come from is no different than if I
were to try to speak out on behalf of the NAACP.
Yes, I may be able to understand and comprehend some of the
issues surrounding African-Americans, but I can never truly feel
and know what it is like to be an African-American person.
Your column, Mr. Kenning, was offensive, entirely off base and
fraught with insult. If Idaho is indeed, “To Great For
Hate,” then I highly recommend your hasty removal as a
columnist for The Arbiter.
Taylor Newbold, Student – ALPHA co-chair