My guess would be that what was offensive was not your observation that there may be many gay florists (although I fail to see how that was relevent to the thread). It was your "caution" (whether tongue-in-cheek or not) that a straight man should be careful entering a flower shop or flower warehouse, lest he be seduced. That was simply uncalled for. It's a clear implication that gay men are sex-crazed maniacs who can't control their base urges (unlike the straight population) - and that, to me, is offensive.
Having gay relatives, and saying you don't hate gays is also irrelevent. In and of itself, it gives you no expertise on the matter, and it certainly doesn't give you carte blanche to make homophobic comments. And make no mistake, I'm not calling you homophobic, I'm saying your comments were homophobic - there's a difference. I don't understand what "Freedom of Speech" has to do with this issue. You are certainly are "Free" to say what you did, just as you are "Free" to be absolutely wrong. Since we, too, have freedom of speech, we have the freedom to respond to your comment... regards, frank Matt Greene wrote: > Instead of asking me, or not knowing how I feel about > Gays, you laid into me, labeling me a homophobia > hater. > How is that so many see and detect hate where none > exists? If a person uses *any* word or phrase (you > don't like) in context, are they always automatically > "haters"? If I spoke out against Bush would that make > me a "Liberal"? If I spoke out for women's rights > would you then call me a "Baby killer"? > Had I said Gays saturate the > high fashion/Ballet/dance/art world, (and they do), > would you have still said what you did? > If (when) a person doesn't toe *your* particular > political line, whatever that might be, are they > idiots... or worse? > My observation of Gays in the flower trade is > nevertheless still valid, no matter how you, in > particular, meant to denigrate me or my statement. > > In this country, famed for its so-called "Freedom of > Speech", no innocent statement, no contextural > conversation can be held these days wherein certain > words, even when used properly and without malice or > inference, can be, and often will be taken completely > out of context; > as you did mine. > > You might have been adult enough or intelligent enough > to respond differently, and without rancor-but you > didn't. > FYI: I have a Gay Grandson and Niece. > > Matt > I get it done with YAHOO! DSL! > > ===== > > Matt Greene > > I get it done with YAHOO! DSL! -- "The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
