Illinois town council OKs Gay Games

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (AP) — The city council agreed to host a rowing event for gay athletes this summer, despite opposition from residents who see it as a threat to their small-town way of life.

The council voted 6-1 Tuesday night to allow the race, planned as part of the Gay Games competition in Chicago in July, according to the (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald. [...]

Opponents have argued that the games are an inappropriate attempt to legitimize and celebrate the gay “lifestyle,” and that organizers are more interested in making a social statement than competing.

Supporters have criticized the resistance as discriminatory and hateful, and say such opposition underscores the Gay Games’ mission of tearing down gay stereotypes. [...]

One look at the angry letters to the editor that have frequently appeared in the local newspaper reveal it isn’t the logistics of the race that’s on residents’ minds.

“Make no mistake: The purpose of the Gay Games is to legitimize homosexuality and make it appear as a wholesome lifestyle choice,” wrote Tim Coakley, a critic of the games.

In the same day’s paper, Perry and Christine Koste dismissed such views. After wondering if Crystal Lake’s motto should be “homophobic capital of the Midwest,” they asked, “How proud are we to live in such a narrow-minded, backward hateful community?”

One of the Gay Games’ missions is to raise awareness about gays to reduce stereotypes — a point organizers kept discussing during the park district hearings, said spokesman Kevin Boyer.

“It is very difficult to disregard what these people said and just deal with how boats are unloaded and loaded,” Boyer said. “You are going to say this is not right and this is why the Gay Games are needed.” (source)

The only way to grow in life is to actively confront things that are a challenge to you. That can come in many forms.

It can be the accomplishment of a piece of art.

It can be overcoming the loss of someone you cared very deeply for.

It can be coming to terms with that loss.

It can be bringing yourself out of your own little existence and seeing how others live their lives, even when the way they live their lives goes contrary to what you were taught and believe, or are repulsed by.

It can be overcoming an ignorance that you dearly held on to, because it gave you security in not knowing, or not wanting to know the truth about others.

Some people don’t want that growth. As Crystal Lake resident Sunita Stone stated, “Crystal Lake is a G-rated place. There’s no reason to start making things racy. If you want to go to Chicago to do that, that’s fine. I’m not going to go there.”

That is ignorance. Perhaps things will get “racy” when the gay rowers come to town. Perhaps there will be some hugs and an occasional kiss, but I doubt it will be much more than that. In other words, it won’t be anything more than straight people do all the time in public.

The challenge for Crystal Lake will be to overcome that ignorance and intolerance, assuming they even want too. There are people in the town who have been turned off by all the hateful letters in their paper that have used very denigrating terms to describe the visitors to the town. At the end of the day, this will challenge the town to talk about this a lot. I suspect that after the gay visitors have come and gone, many will wonder what all the excitement was about, as they sit back and count the money that the gay visitors brought to their economy. Assuming they will accept it of course. It is after all, “gay money”. My bet is they won’t have such a problem with the money!

In terms of “promoting the gay lifestyle”, that one resident stated, there is absolutely no reason that this group of gay rowers should come to Crystal Lake to “act straight”, as it were. They are gay, and part of this experience should be about acceptance and tolerance.

I’ll tell you something about this country. We are in a state right now of great volatility. We have a choice to start making the effort to understand and accept each other and start to build a stronger nation (and part of that is finding a new President who won’t shamelessly use a political wedge issue to garner a few more votes), OR...

We can continue the hateful and mean spirited comments (all wrapped up in “Christian Love - hate the sin but love the sinner” bullshit), and let the country fall apart. The “union” will fall, and you will end up with people who are labeled as different, or we can use the term “outcasts” if it suits you better, moving to more accepting parts of the country (the conservatives’ “four letter word” for this is “liberal”) where they can live out their lives in relative happiness and...

We already have gay people moving from state to state, trying to find a more accepting place to live. Many are leaving Texas, after it passed a sweeping constitutional amendment against gay marriage and civil unions. Following that, the Governor of Texas actually said that perhaps it was better for gay veterans to leave the State of Texas and look for some other place that would want them. Or, as Andrew Sullivan put it...

I missed some context about Texas governor Rick Perry’s comment that gay Texan couples who want to form stable relationships should go to another state. He was actually responding to a question about gay war veterans. Insult to injury. What do you call a gay man who risks his life to serve his country? A faggot.

I’ve read of people moving out of Virginia and of one gay man thinking of leaving Ohio because he fears he may lose his adopted child becasue the state is considering outlawing gay adoption. And when and if an amendment to the U.S. Constitution passes (or even mention of trying for it again) goes forward, how many will leave this country altogether.

I know... many of you reading this will say, “...let ’em go. We don’t need queers in this country.” What you don’t understand is what a fool you are. At the core of this issue is anyone who doesn't fit the Ozzy and Harriet model of what a citizen should be. This time, it’s homosexuals. Who will be the next group? Mexicans? Jews? These attitudes are tearing us apart, day - by - day.

I leave you with this...

The Left today widely acknowledges the emergence in the United States of three fundamentals of Fascism: corporatism, imperialism, and repression. What is forgotten is the fourth, equally critical prop to a Fascist state: scapegoats. Without them, even “good” citizens will question themselves and their government. With them, the frustration of the volk can play itself out on the scapegoats, without threat to the state. (source)

Related Article
March 8, 2006 - Crystal Lake gives OK to Gay Games