Marriage amendment supporters heard - for worse

By Jim Walters

“Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and their personhood.” - Coretta Scott King

By Jim Walters

Things change. Change is constant. The seasons change, the earth changes (think Haiti), species change, fashion changes, customs and culture change. Some don't like change, or try to deny it, but the beat goes on.

Language certainly changes. Take the word “homophobia.” It's actually a very new word. It first appeared in Screw magazine in 1969. Its first academic appearance was in a 1972 book by psychologist George Weinburg. Like all new words, it has different and evolving meanings.

Ron Telecky (Jan. 25 Gazette guest column), in advocating for a constitutional amendment to outlaw same-sex marriage, reduces homophobia to its simplest etymological components: “homosexuality” and “fear of.” To “disagree or disapprove” of something is not to fear it, Telecky says. Hence, the efforts of his group - LUVIowa - cannot, by definition, be homophobic.

But virtually no one in the language business agrees with his definition. Merriam-Webster Online defines the word as: “the irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals.”

Telecky goes on that “disagreement over a chosen behavior is not discrimination.” This confuses words even more. Sexual identity is an orientation, not a behavior. Within either orientation, there is room for a wide variation of behaviors - some of which one may like, others of which one may find disturbing.

One of the main leaders of LUVIowa, Bryan English, makes it clear that he disapproves of all homosexual behaviors: “Such behavior is inherently deadly, at all levels: individually, societally and especially spiritually.” Think about that as against King's words above.

Supporters of a vote on the Iowa Marriage Amendment say they “deserve their chance to be heard.” They are getting their chance to be heard in the debate about whether to have that vote. They don't deserve a vote simply because they want one or even because they believe they constitute a majority. And how many judicial decisions should be subject to voter nullification?

It will be a dark day if they succeed - and an even darker day if their amendment passes.

Jim Walters of Iowa City, a Johnson County native who works for the University of Iowa Athletics Department, is a frequent contributor to opinion pages and researches issues on fairness, politics and the media.