Being Called a "Fagot" is no Worse (or Better) than
being Called a "N**ger-Lover"

The Root has an article up, entitled "Why Kobe's Slur Wasn't Anti-Gay."  Apparently, Kobe Bryant called a referee a "fagot" during a game, because Kobe strongly disliked the referee's call and Kobe knew that the referee would take offense at being called a "fagot.".

Using the word "fagot" to cause offense is an offense to all fagots, and to all people who have a beloved fagot in their family or directing and/or singing in their church choir. I'm quite serious about this. Calling someone a "homo" out of anger makes it clear that the accuser is accusing the other person of being something horrible and vile.  It's like calling someone a "n**ger-lover".  It makes it clear that the accuser believes Blacks to be unworthy of love, and so horribly bad that nobody should love them (us), and everyone should feel the same visceral disgust toward Black people that some people, including many Black people, feel toward gays.

And so even a white person calling another white person a n**ger-lover is (or should be) deeply offensive to all Black people and to all people of every skin color group. 

I believe Kobe Bryant needs psychiatric help. If he doesn't get that help, then we'll all wake up one Sunday morning to the news that he is dead. Will he be dead because he called someone a fagot? No. Will he be dead because of some other instance(s) in which he gave offense? No. He will be dead because all of these behaviors and all of these symptoms (e.g. publicly offended all gay people and those who love them) pointed toward a psychiatric problem that went undiagnosed and untreated.

Rather than trying to isolate Bryant and hurt his career, all of us--gay straight and other--and regardless of our skin color, should be urging Bryant to get the psychiatric help that he needs. That kind of help might have saved Michael Jackson's life. It might save the life of someone in your own household who calls other people "fagots" and "homos" or "n**ger-lovers".


Read The Full Article:
http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2011/04/being-called-fagot-is-no-worse-or.htm
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