I feel confident saying that this week’s letters to the editor mark the most ignorant thing to ever come out of Iowa State.

It must be time for the quarterly anti-homosexual diatribe. You could practically set your watch by it.

In the past, I’ve wasted time refuting the banal arguments of this small pack of hate-mongers. I’ve since decided some arguments aren’t even worth engaging in anymore.

For some sick reason, certain people want to be given license to hate. Most people have caught on by now that racism is pretty taboo, so they have the common sense to keep that type of hate to themselves. But people still seem to think that it’s OK to hate homosexuals.

Many of these people justify their hatred through the Bible. Funny, 50 years ago people were using the Bible to justify hatred of African-Americans. Now the only people doing that are the KKK and their ilk.

Is there a parallel here? I think there is. In the last 15 years things have changed a lot in this country. Try watching a Comic Relief special from the late 1980s. You’ll be hard pressed to find a comic who doesn’t do some pretty hateful anti-homosexual jokes. Such material would be unheard of today in such a mainstream performance.

It has only been within the last five years that homosexuals have become a visible presence on network television, even appearing in a number of title roles. Again, there is a parallel to the black civil rights movement.

In the late ’50s, the first popular show to feature black characters was “Amos & Andy.” Looking at the show now, it was horribly stereotypical and offensive. Still, it paved the way for a number of shows with black title characters. These days no one bats an eye at a program with black characters.

The civil rights movement did not end in the 1960s, and it does not only involve people of color. The quest for human rights for all people continues in this country, and homosexuals are finally gaining the respect they deserve.

You may think that hating gays is the last acceptable form of bigotry. It’s not. There may have been a time when you could waltz onto “Comic Relief” and spout your hatred for homosexuals, but those days are have passed.

Now, these anti-gay manifestos read like a Klan newsletter. Do you people who write this crap realize that? What are you? A member of a hate group?

The wall is crumbling, and most people realize it. The majority of the gay-haters out there structure their arguments accordingly.

Take Wednesday’s letter from James Long, Mark Davis and Nathan Swanson. Rather than lay it on the line and say that they hate homosexuals, they fall back on the tired “why should we have to look at this” argument.

If you can’t see how ridiculous this argument is, simply substitute “black” for “homosexual” in their letter. Such a level of racial intolerance is no longer accepted, and the same should be true for sexual orientation.

Not everyone tries to mask their cruelty. Take Wednesday’s letter from Peris Chamberlain, in which he actually claims that gays are destroying heterosexual unions, by increasing awareness of themselves, homosexuals are bringing hatred upon themselves.

If homosexual-haters wore white hoods, Mr. Chamberlain would be the grand wizard.

I have no idea why some people feel the need to hate other people. It’s not healthy, it’s not justifiable and it’s certainly never “Christian.”

One last issue from Wednesday’s “Letters to the Editor” I’d like to address is the letter from Kyle Mehmen and Matthew Schaefer.

Messrs. Mehmen and Schaefer simply contend that the Daily shouldn’t give so much attention to an event like “Awareness Days 2000.”

They suggest more coverage should be given to such important events as Greek Week and Parents’ Weekend, by virtue of the number of students involved in those events.

I could contend that Greek Week received extensive coverage in the Daily, but apparently front page stories with photos on March 27, March 28 and April 3 were not enough for some readers.

Instead, I believe that the letters that ran in the Daily this week are exactly the reason that an event like “Awareness Days 2000” deserves coverage. Does this campus really need more awareness of greekness?

What this campus needs is a kick in the ass. We should be just as ashamed to have such anti-homosexual sentiment in our midst as we would be to have a Klan rally on central campus.

If you’re trying to structure a really crushing argument against homosexuals, put down your pen. There is no justification for hatred. Please withdraw to the shadows, there is no room for you in mainstream society.

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Ben Godar is a senior in sociology from Ames. He is an assistant arts and entertainment editor for the Daily.