The Cincinnati Enquirer |
Editorial Page
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Oct. 18, 1998 |
| I’m not shocked that Matthew Shepard was murdered. I’m not shocked that the Colorado State University fraternity thought it was OK to put a scarecrow spray-painted with the words "I’m gay" on a float as he lay dying. I’m not shocked that I haven’t heard our local civil rights leaders, newspaper editors, or religious leaders speak out about this.
Tacit approval is a strong code of ethics, so well-taught, many don’t know they embody it as a lesson learned. It starts at the level of letting a racial slur go by unchallenged or merely "tolerating" the existence of gay people. (Imagine being "tolerated.") It works its way |
up to knowing your boss fired someone competent because of his or her home life. Know that this happens. Know that when you don’t speak up, you approve. Know that when the courts don’t speak up, that your country approves. Know that the disgusting behavior that killed Matthew Shepard is developed one incident at a time.
Please use your voice to stop this development.
Mary Kroner, Northside
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