Albuquerque Journal, N.M., Jim Belshaw column: Those Who Wrote Politely, Thanks

By Jim Belshaw

Jun. 1, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Last week, I wrote of the yearbook controversy in Clovis. Two students, neither gay and each professing to hold strong Christian beliefs, included gay couples with straight couples in the Clovis High School yearbook.

I want to thank everyone who called or wrote in response to that column.

Maggie Chavez, the editor-inchief, said, "This is in the community. (Students) are going to have to deal with it in their lifetime."

Some people in Clovis, including a former lieutenant governor and leaders in the Christian community, were not at all pleased with the yearbook inclusion of gay couples.

I argued that the kids would win this argument, if not today, then down the road.

Before we get to some of the letters, here's a note on phone calls and letters: If you want me to listen, there are certain words you shouldn't use. You know what they are. Vulgarity and nastiness aside, they tend to explain your argument succinctly and remove the need to listen to anything else.

As usual, I don't have room for all of the letters. They may be found in their entirety at my Journal blog at www.ABQjournal.com/belshaw.

Some came with no identifier, not even initials, such is the reality of the world.

The readers write:

M in Clovis: "In Clovis, the pain has been great for so many. My child has been bashed for having homosexual friends. The hate and anger being spewed forth in the name of religious righteousness has been so hurtful to so many students."

TW: "Jim Belshaw wrote that it took courage for two staff members to include lesbian photos in the 2008 Clovis High School yearbook. It certainly did not take any courage for Belshaw to be politically correct."

AF, Albuquerque: "The kids are way ahead of their parents. Just as with the civil rights movement, which was often led by children, so too are these young people leading the way to a more open, respectful America."

BR, Corrales: You refer ... to the fact that elder folks will lose this battle, inferring that the elderly people are opposed to same-sex marriage and relationships. That, my friend, is ageist. It (implies) that (older people) will be opposed to gay/lesbian relationships ... Please consider that just because some of the opponents of the kids in Clovis were older, all of us 'older folks' are not locked in the stone age."

GC, Albuquerque: "Of course, these gay students are youth that need love and affirmation, but to affirm their wrong actions is not gentle. It is very destructive for them and for our society ... If we want to truly help our youth, we elders should be leading them in the standard of what is right and wrong, not what's 'in' or acceptable by society's rules. Moral failure will bring a nation to ruin, as history proves, not to mention an individual's life."

SC: "As a member of PFLAG (Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays) and the mother of a gay daughter, I get impatient. But you are right, our hope is in our youth."

JH, Albuquerque: "Sadly, I have to agree with your conclusion that the 'courageous' students who included homosexual couples in the yearbook will win. If you wonder why I consider the overturning of this 'primitive taboo' against homosexual behavior to be said, it is because I have looked at the historical evidence for what happens when it is overturned ...

"Sadly, it is easier to accept the homosexual agenda without any thought because it is vogue and it feels bad to be 'prejudiced' against any behavior. When one has a megaphone as you do, one can foster the agenda, chipping away at the foundation of our culture and civilization."

HK, Santa Fe: "I am a retired, straight man. Raising a daughter was the most important part of my life. Now I am a grandfather. It is frightening to think of the fuss going on in Clovis. Love is love. We can't have too much."

Write to Jim Belshaw at The Albuquerque Journal, P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, NM 87103; telephone -- 823-3930; e-mail -- jbelshaw@abqjournal.com.

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