July 21, 2006

Heterosexualphobia

Rising harassment and discrimination complaints in Provincetown, RI have residents up in arms but not for the usual reasons. The resort town known as the summer gay capital of New England has come under increasing scrutiny as straight people have complained of being called "breeders" and "baby makers."

Provincetown Police Chief Ted Meyer said the complaints started over the July fourth weekend and resulted in one man being charged for assaulting a woman who signed a petition to ban same-sex marriage in Massachusetts according to Reuters..

The supporters of gay marriage have even set up a website http://www.knowthyneighbor.org which lists the names of those that have signed the petition. It includes the names of at least two local Provincetown residents who said they have been verbally abused by gays since their names were published.

Unlike accusations of "gay bashing" where police can't help but keep from falling over themselves to bring out the "hate crime" mantra, when the shoe is on the other foot they have chosen to take a wait and see attitude. Maybe it's for their own protection as the towns population explodes from about 3,400 to 60,000 when the mostly gay vacationers arrive.

For the most part the gays seem unrepentant for their actions. One telling quote Reuters obtained was from Joe Solmonese, president of gay rights group Human Rights Campaign, who said the petition signers invited trouble by taking a position that says "loud and clear that you believe that gays and lesbians should be treated as second class citizens."

Second class citizens? Gays have become so powerful that they are often better protected than heterosexuals so the second class citizen claim in my opinion is bogus.

Sounds like the gay population in Provincetown needs a class in tolerance.