Stop the name calling

Regarding the two letters responding to Kathy Hood's letter on “gay rights” and “hate crime laws.”

You say Ms. Hood should be “ashamed” of herself, equate her letter with “oppression,” and say it was “designed to spread fear.” You accuse her of being “homophobic and angry.” You compare her to the Ku Klux Klan who “burned crosses” and “lynched” people. 

How do you know she is “homophobic” and “angry?” And since when is writing a letter expressing an opinion equivalent to lynching people?

You mention “prejudice against any other group of people we deem ‘different …' ”  I suggest the people who are prejudiced are you. Kathy Hood and I are “different” from you in our points of view.  Those of you who champion “tolerance” for your own point of view, however, are totally intolerant of people who disagree with you.

Federal hate crime laws, which were recently defeated, would, as written, absolutely abridge freedom of speech. If you said something negative about a heterosexual, no problem; if you said something negative about a homosexual, you could go to jail for a long time.

Kathy Hood and I and the vast majority of people want the one to two percent of homosexuals to stop dictating to the 98-plus percent of us and to stop shoving their lifestyle in our faces and down our kids' throats.

Finally, when you write a letter, try to come up with something better on your side than name calling.

JOANNA FUCHS

Cocolalla