Americans New McCarthyism
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All of these consequences leave individuals and communities damaged.
Considerable time is required for individuals and communities to return to
healthy functioning.
Referenda on the rights of any group run the risk of allowing a tyranny of
the majority.
Not surprisingly, the study concluded:
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The net effect. . . is the dissemination of misinformation that revives old
prejudices and reinforces divisions within communities.
As the referendum polarize people, LGBT citizens become fearful and their
children often encounter ridicule at school.
John D. Moore is the author of Confusing Love With Obsession: When
You Can Stop Controlling Your Partner and the Relationship (Universe, 2004)
and professor of health sciences and psychology at American Public University.
On March 8, 2004, Advocate.com featured an article by Dr. Moore that
addressed the effects of stereotyped antigay political and religious rhetoric,
especially on gay youth:
When President George W. Bush decided to publicly embrace
a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage,
cloaking his remarks in the guise of religion, he
psychologically violated millions upon millions of gay and
lesbian youth around the nation as well as the many millions
more who are their parents and relatives. In short, Mr. Bush
has made it fashionable to declare '‘open season’’ on a segment
of our society. Make no mistake—^his intolerant message was
quite clear: “You and your family are not part of the American
family.” . . .
Consider what one 20-year-old student wrote in an essay about
this topic in a class I instruct on gender psychology: “I have
beaten up faggots before, and I used to feel guilty—^not
anymore! Bush says fags don’t count, so I guess it’s cool to do
it.” . . .
Although Mr. Bush has not explicitly urged or threatened physical
violence against gay Americans, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart did in a televised
sermon broadcast on Omni 1, a Toronto multicultural station. The broadcast was
also carried by various outlets in the United States. From a report by Jan Prout
posted on 365Gay.com, September 20, 2004: