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Letters
Bigotry disguised as free speech
Having grown up among the intelligent, rebellious and pioneering computer-oriented people of Saratoga and the Silicon Valley, I was dismayed and embarrassed for my community when I read M. Elaine Hocker's May 29 letter complaining about the "Homosexual Club" recently created at the high school.
As with most bigots who are brazen enough to make their views public, she has mixed a few granules of sugary truth into her cyanide-laced argument in an attempt to obscure her intolerant attitude. It is quite true that if anyone wants to, they can have a "family values" club at the school to aid their opposing views. The United States is unquestionably a land of free speech (as demonstrated by the publication of her letter), and Saratoga is no exception. But the problems with her diatribe are many:
* The only reason anyone would spend their time attending such a "family values" club would be to publicly acknowledge their opposition to the "Homosexual Club" and, by extension, homosexuality. Such an antagonistic attitude would imbue any such club, of course, with a confrontational spirit from the moment of its founding. Well isn't that special! Do the parents of Saratoga really want their children to spend their youthful time in such a confrontational atmosphere? The "Homosexual Club" Hocker is so afraid of is not spending its time calling for the destruction of the "Heterosexual World." So why does she feel compelled to call for the destruction of theirs?
* And what about these fears of hers anyway? Is Hocker truly worried that having a "Homosexual Club" will cause heterosexual students at SHS to somehow "turn to the dark side" and "go homosexual"? If the line between being gay or straight is really so tenuous that it only takes an after-school club to tip the scale of someone's sexual identity, then how can she be so confident that her "side" is the "right side" to begin with? Surely she should have more "faith" in the overwhelming number of heterosexuals on planet earth, and indeed her own sexuality, than this.
* No one would attend such a "family values" club, or if they did, they would soon get bored with it. Who in high school has time to attend a club that is only going to reinforce what they already think, only going to repeat what their parents say, what mainstream culture says, and what no one in the club is going to take issue with? On top of that, anyone interested in such an exclusionary, "behave like everyone else does," anti-homosexual club probably already belongs to one. It's called "church." Still, if you must, I'm sure that all those college admissions officers are looking forward to reading "I was the Grand Wizard of the Family Values Club at my High School" on your children's collegiate applications.
And who does Elaine cite as a source for her ideas? "Focus on the Family." Well, in the interest of full disclosure of where Hocker is coming from with her ideas, the Los Angeles Times recently reported that "The Focus on the Family Show, which airs on hundreds of radio stations in Canada and more than 2,300 in the United States, has been found in violation of the human rights code of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council. Focus on the Family is a $100 million-a-year evangelical Christian ministry based in Colorado Springs, Colo. Its programs air 60,000 times a week in 58 countries and it is widely known as one of the most effective conservative Christian pressure groups in the United States."
It is clear that Hocker's remarks are fueled by one assumption: That homosexuality is "bad" because her religion says so. Period. (The idea that AIDS is a "gay disease" went out some time in the last millennium, with Magic Johnson and countless others.) There should be no question that Hocker is trying to advocate a point of view that is 100 percent religiously inspired, and that she is trying to get her particular brand of negative and confrontational ideology into after-school clubs for the sole purpose of retarding the responsible development of tolerance and civility.
The main argument Hocker uses in her letter is that the community has the right to form "family values" clubs if it so chooses. And that's a good strategy for her to use, because no one is going to attack the rights of free speech and association we were all born with. But the KKK has the "right" to march down Main Street and buy "clean highway" advertising signs. David Duke has the "right" to run for office. The question for Saratoga is not "Do we have the right?" The question is "Will we use our rights in a constructive way?"
Agreement with Hocker's quotation of the law should not be confused for agreement with the bigoted $100 million organization she is fronting for.
If M. Elaine Hocker really wants to know why people might find it necessary to create a club to bolster the self-esteem of homosexuals, to foster understanding with heterosexuals and make our society more safe from bigotry-fueled violence, all she has to do is consider the overwhelming 60,000 broadcasts a week of her favorite propaganda show, and take a look in her magic mirror.
William Lorton
SHS Alumnus 1988
Error sends a wrong message
Boy, is my face red!! I neglected to have my seat belt on while demonstrating the proper way to back up a car in the photo accompanying the recent story regarding safe driving in the May 2, issue of the Saratoga News.
This was a posed photo--the car was parked, but I realize it did send the wrong message. Thanks to all of the "safe driving" readers who called me on this error.
C. M. Weaver
AARP 55 Alive
Echo Shop not the rude shop
After reading the "Angry Pedestrian" letter in the May 23 issue of the SARATOGA NEWS, I telephoned Mrs. Wiedmer who wrote it, and she assured me that it was not in the Echo Shop where she felt she was rudely treated.
I am happy to report this, as our volunteers have a reputation for being friendly and helpful.
Marianne McDonnal
Echo Shop Manager
Correction
In the May 30 edition of the Saratoga News, Joe Long, a former candidate for the Saratoga Fire Commission, was incorrectly identified as a member of the Citizen and Firefighter Task force. Long is not a member of the task force.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
