Wow, a nerve has been struck out there among gay liberals. Let me summarize a dozen or so emails.
1) I am “vile” or “bigoted” for agreeing with the Wall Street Journal editorial.
2) It is outrageous to speak about gays as a monolithic group.
3) I am a hypocrite because I never denounced heterosexual men so sweepingly during the Clinton impeachment etc.
Okay. So, re 1) I did not in fact concur with the WSJ editorial. I merely cited it as an example of the kind of unintended consequences that are awaiting all of the opportunists shouting “pedophile!” If you recall, Bill Clinton’s troubles were largely foreordained by the liberal sexual harassment inquisitions of the 1990s. Liberals never intended sexual harassment laws to hurt liberals. But it turned out that even enlightened liberals can behave like pigs (and, please, let us not re-open the question of Bill’s piggishness).
2) I did not speak of gays as a monolithic group. But the gay folks harranguing me this morning most certainly are when they pretend that no gay men are interested in teenage boys. Again, I have no doubt that plenty of gays are horrified by such behavior. But I have no doubt that quite a few aren’t.
Which brings me to 3). First, I didn’t sweepingly denounce homosexuals. More relevant: I also believe that lots of heterosexual men are into “barely legal” girls. The evidence for this is so obvious and ancient that it seems silly to even ask readers to google the phrase “barely legal.” As a conservative I am not merely open to the idea that men are pigs by nature, I’m a firm believer in the proposition. Which is why we need this handy thing called “civilization” — with all the rules, laws and customs that implies — to keep men on the straight and narrow. There is a forced assumption in our popular culture that gays are somehow a numinous minority. This stereotype is forced because it’s part of a campaign to change perceptions either from reality or harsh stereotypes toward nice stereotypes. I reject both stereotypes, for the most part — which makes me open to criticism from portions of the right and the left.
In fact, I think the guy who just about echoes my view on this whole thing is the Gay Patriot who, by the way, notes that some liberal mouthpieces see nothing wrong with implying that homosexuality is code for perversion.
Update: From a reader:
…from your post, let me guess at the next line of complaints:
“Which is why we need this handy thing called “civilization” — with
all the rules, laws and customs that implies — to keep men on the
straight and narrow”
–On the *what* and narrow? You bigot!