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May 30, 2006

Fear of a Gay Planet

National Review's John Derbyshire sees a bleak future:

I tell you, it's war. The end point of this, if people like Mr. De Witte win, will be a situation like that in Charles Beaumont's story "The Crooked Man," about a future world where homosexuality was the norm and heterosexuality is illegal. The hero gets arrested for a secret tryst with a woman. That's where we're headed. You heard it here first. (Unless you read the Beaumont story, which was circa 1955.)

This was Derbyshire's response to an ad campaign that wanted heterosexuals to see what it's like to be called the kinds of names that homosexuals put up with on a regular basis. Nothing indicates that the people behind the program actually think heterosexuals are awful or dirty, just that maybe, sometimes, there's value in walking at least a couple of inches in someone else's shoes.

Completely missing the point, Derbyshire, desperate to maintain his hetero street cred (since Lord knows his fascination with homosexuality isn't doing it any favors - which might also lead one to think that alessandra is a self-loathing lesbian, but nevermind...), portrays it as an all out Logan's Run world in which heterosexuals are vaporized by big laser dome things that look like disco gear gone bad.

I don't know John's schedule (although there may very well be secret trysts in steamy Turkish baths involved*), but I'm willing to bet it takes a serious daily regimen of dumb to say such idiotic things.

* Not that I think all gay men engage in such things, of course, but so long as we're dealing on the level of outlandish known as "Derbyshire...."