Readers comment on supporting LGBTQ family members, recent vandalism and more
PFLAG provides support
The April 13 “For Better or For Worse” comic strip broke my heart. It depicts a scene that plays out every day in households all over the country. A father tells his son to get out after the son comes out as gay. When the son asks where he should go, the father tells him to go wherever his kind hang out. The son’s reply is reminding his father he lives there.
This reminded me of a meme I have seen that says: “Be careful who you hate; it could be someone you love."
When my son came out to me, I was supportive but afraid for him. I didn’t want him to be harmed or mistreated. It would be easy to dismiss the father in the cartoon as a hateful bigot but my heart aches for him also. He may, in fact, be a bigot but he may also be confused or scared and need help understanding his loved one.
There is a chapter of PFLAG in Gainesville where you can find support if you are a family member, friend or LGBTQ community member. We meet once a month and you can find out more from our Facebook page or website.
Please don’t lose your relationship with a loved one.
Elizabeth Husband, Micanopy
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Inviting vandalism
In his recent "cheers and cheers" column, Sun Opinion Editor Nathan Crabbe gave a "jeer" to the "vandal or vandals who defaced the social-justice murals placed around Gainesville.”
Amen! Vandalism, looting, and destruction of private or public property should never be a part of any political or social activist playbook and immediately condemned when such things happen in the name of any "cause."
There should be a partial “jeer" due to other parties: the people who placed the artworks in unmonitored areas inviting vandalism.
Crabbe noted the vandalism against private property that happened during the 2016 presidential election, and there were many more instances of the same during the mask-and-quarantine months during the COVID epidemic.
The reality behind Gainesville’s “second place finish for cultural diversity last year from the National League of Cities,” suggests it was not a question if vandals would deface the pictures, but when.
When the waters are chummed and the sharks arrive, a suspicious person could conclude the sharks’ arrival is the desired result.
Max Skeans, Hawthorne
Complicit with Putin
On April 13, Sean Hannity of Fox News interviewed Donald Trump. While showing him and the audience graphic scenes of mass slaughter of civilians in Ukraine, Hannity asked Trump a simple question, “Mr. President, do you agree that Putin is a mass murderer and is evil”? To his surprise, Trump refused to agree.
Instead, he insisted that if not for him, NATO wouldn’t be in existence today, and his “very close friend, Putin,” would never have attacked Ukraine if he were still president. Even Hannity was shocked.
Everyone knows Trump spent all four years denouncing NATO and trying to dismantle it; which is exactly what Putin wanted him to do. He always defended Putin. He still does. But most stunning was, he wouldn’t even agree with Hannity’s characterization that Putin is an evil butcher.
Sadly, he’s not alone. Tucker Carlson even proudly told his audience recently that he supports Putin’s actions. And, the Putin wing of the Republican Party, including many Republicans in Congress, also support Putin. Future generations will severely criticize them, along with the entire Republican Party for remaining silent and complicit.
Ted Quinn, Alachua
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Letters to the editor for April 20, 2022: Comments on PFLAG, more
