• Published: Oct 27, 2009 - Page: 8B

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A letter to the editor on Oct. 14, written by a local area resident of Irish heritage, is a sad example of the intolerance and lack of understanding that many area residents and elected officials feel toward this city’s sizable gay and lesbian population.

In his satirical remarks, Mr. R. Glynn Kelly unwittingly illustrates why attitudes need to change, and laws need to be put in place to end discrimination and provide gay and lesbians with equal protections and rights.

Current federal laws protect U.S. citizens of Irish descent from discrimination: Mr. Kelly cannot be fired from his job for being Irish. Mr. Kelly cannot be denied housing for being Irish. Mr. Kelly is able to marry the woman of his dreams and have a family.

Even though I am a U.S. citizen, pay the same taxes, contribute my time, energy and money to many civic and charitable organizations, respect my fellow citizens of Baton Rouge, and am loved by my family and friends, I enjoy none of those rights and protections that Mr. Kelly takes for granted because I happen to have been born gay.

Much of the intolerance against gays and lesbians in Baton Rouge, and in many other parts of the country, results from negative and incorrect stereotypes.

Are all Irish alcoholics? Are all Catholic priests pedophiles? Are all Cajuns uneducated? Of course not. Moreover, nobody is saying the Irish, Catholics or Cajuns are unwelcome in Baton Rouge.

However, many people are saying that gays and lesbians are not welcome here, and they demonstrate it on a daily basis by hurling anti-gay slurs at us, firing us from our jobs and taunting us on the street with anti-gay slurs and attacking us.

Mr. Kelly refers to a “moral compass” and “drawing the line.”

Growing up a Southern Baptist, I learned that Jesus said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” and “Whatever you do unto the least of them, you do unto me.”

It would seem to me that Jesus, arguably someone with a high moral compass, has “drawn the line.” And many people, such as Mr. Kelly and others in the Baton Rouge area, including the attacker mentioned above, have clearly crossed it.

Kevin Serrin
health-care consultant
Baton Rouge