|
‘Justice for Families’
Challenges Herald Columnist for Laughing at Public Sex
March
6, 2001
After
Gov. Cellucci challenged a state police ruling last week which
would allow public sex, the Boston Herald published a column by
Margery Eagan on Sunday which lampooned the Governor.
“It's
an enlightened view, it seems to me,” she wrote about the state
police ruling. “Don't fret over what you can't see, or hear. And
it's always been a creepy image, hasn't it? Booted troopers trolling
thickets with flashlights and handcuffs; local cops doing likewise
at lovers' lanes. Come on, is this really about preventing sexual
assaults, or about something else entirely?
“OK.
There are safety issues. Certain rest stops, come summertime,
are swarming. There's prostitution and solicitation. Yet there's
solicitation and prostitution outside the FleetCenter, too. Somehow,
we've managed to survive.”
A
spokesman for the Governor said his concern was that a “family
may feel they could not stop at a rest area safely and free from
seeing something they may not want to see.”
But
Eagan scoffed at the idea that we should worry about public sex.
The
columnist also took a slap at Brian Camenker, one of the parents
who exposed the Fistgate scandal. She wrote:
“Perhaps
Argeo Paul, typically a laissez-faire guy on this sort of thing,
is concerned about his Canadian ambassador's job now that Brian
Camenker is running around Capitol Hill with tales of ‘shocking’ lessons used in a high school teach-in here on gay
sex. Let's hope Senate staffers are astute enough to notice, as
many have here, that Mr. Camenker appears a tad overinvolved in
matters of gay sexual technique, a tad, frankly, hyper-vigilant.”
Nev
Moore, president of Justice for Families, has sent a letter to
Eagan that her column was offensive.
Full
Text of the Letter
Dear Marjorie:
For
years I have been able to read your column then smugly nod my
head and say, “See -
Marjorie even says so!” Your readers could count on you to “get
the point” and provide a voice of sanity in an increasingly insane
state.
I
am so disappointed to read your slurs against Brian Camenker on
Sunday. Surely we haven’t really arrived at a point where the
contents of the GLSEN conference are casually considered “no big
deal”? The extremely graphic descriptions of sex acts are nauseating
even to adults who may consider themselves fairly sexually adventurous.
The thought of school children being exposed to such graphic descriptions,
without their parents’ knowledge or approval, is
shocking, and is a complete outrage.
There
has been an absolute bias in favor of this event by the Massachusetts
press and legislators due to the fact that it was about gay sex. If this conference had offered the exact same content, but
was about heterosexual acts, or if any teacher, little league
coach, or parent had discussed such acts about heterosexual sex
to a group of school children, I think you and I both know how
that would play out … there would have been screaming, front page
headlines from the Globe and the Herald, criminal charges, and
the Mass press and legislators demanding that heads roll.
Does
it make sense to you that parents will be charged with “sexual
abuse” for taking pictures of their kids in the tub or running
through the sprinkler nude, yet the Mass press and administration
have such a casual attitude about the contents of the GLSEN conference?
Like what occurred there is normal.
If
what occurred there is accepted as normal, then what’s next? Bestiality?
Sadomasochism? Pedophilia? Maybe we can have a NAMBLA chapter
in every Massachusetts elementary school? I guess it just depends
on how strong their lobby is. Because, let’s face reality, if
the GLSEN people have the right to force their way into our schools, then the bestiality/sadomasochists/pedophiles/NAMBLA
folks must be given equal “rights.” After all, what’s the difference?
Okay
… I’ll put my own head on the guillotine and say (gulp)…according
to what’s really right (and the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Constitution)…
parents have the right
to control what their children are exposed to in schools and in
society. Parents have the right to try to protect their children’s innocence. Parents have
the right to instill
their family values, and parents have the right
to make decisions for their children until they are of age. There…
I said it. Get the rope.
Perhaps
Brian Camenker has not garnered positive responses from legislators
and press folks. Perhaps he just isn’t a people person. Maybe
it’s just his personality. But, that should not detract from the
credibility and content of his message. It’s important to not
throw the baby out with the bath water here by discounting the
validity and importance of Camenker’s issue simply because some
of our public figures don’t take to his personality or the way
he presents himself. His anger and outrage are completely justified.
People must become angered and outraged by unacceptable public
issues - that is what motivates change. Camenker’s message, indeed
any message concerning relevant social issues, deserves to be
presented by the press so that the public can form their own opinions
- on the message - regardless of the messenger.
|
