WHY GEORGE W. BUSH WOULD VETO THE MATTHEW SHEPARD ACT IF IT REACHED HIS DESK

The answer is easy. George W. Bush is a homophobe who shows no compassion to GLBT people in the United States.

And the sad part about that is that some (not all) of the GLBT population were the very ones that voted him into office. Yes, there are GLBT Republicans out there, especially in Texas, and in Florida (where W’s brother Jeb was once Governor).

Here are some reasons why many GLBT Americans would wish the 2000 Election went the other way.

He proposed that gay marriage be banned in the United States. To date, Massachusetts is one of few states that acknowledge GLBT marriage and civil unions.

Bush is against gay adoption. It seems as though he is among the many Americans who believe that GLBT people cannot make good parents. The fact is any person (GLBT or straight) can make a good parent. And the children living with two mothers or two fathers actually turn out to live normal, productive lives. So this means that Mr. Bush has been fed, perhaps by his parents, the homophobic nature of things from the Cold War era in which little George grew up in.

Now I am just saying this as a sports fan. Bush has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to, among the many athletes who have made a contribution to the American Experience, Muhammed Ali, Jack Nicklaus, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, and Arnold Palmer. These heterosexual people were honored by Presidential Bush. But lesbian athletes Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova had to be pushed aside as “second-class citizens.” And they both did great things in comparison to those honored by Mr. Bush. This is an awful disservice to the sports fan everywhere and one that needs to be fixed.

But as a human being, what really gets me the most is the fact that Mr. Bush will not acknowledge the murders of GLBT people by reason of sexual preferences as a hate crime. Therefore, he has threatened to veto the Matthew Shepard Act (passed by both the Congress and the Senate) if the landmark bill makes it the desk at the Oval Office. The reason behind that. “Hate crimes do not apply to gays,” Mr. Bush defends.

I must say that a bisexual Texan, I am deeply ashamed to have lived under the iron hand of a governor for six years, and in land with the same iron fist of a president for another eight. I am 23 years old now, and I lived over half of my life ruled by this homophobic tyrant. I hope I never have to go through another 14 years of such awfulness ever again. I am glad to be out to let you Bush voters know what a mistake you’ve made.

ANOTHER REASON TO THANK BILLIE JEAN KING

First she fought to make tennis a professional sport. Then she fought the inequities of women by forming a league of their own. After that she shut the mouths of every male chauvinist pig by defeating Bobby Riggs at the Astrodome.

She opened a door to women athletes throughtout the world. And after being outed by a jealous lover, she threw herself into GLBT politics, becoming an inspiration to athletes of all sexual preferences.

But it isn’t just the athletes who have benefit from her ever generous heart. Just ask the senior citizens at the RainbowVision retirement center in Palm Beach, Florida.

The winner of 39 grand slam tennis titles has designed a tennis and fitness center for the first GLBT retirement center approved by the city of Palm Beach.

Another good reason to appreciate Billie Jean King. She cares a lot for all kinds of people, young and old, able and disabled, GLBT or straight. She cares about them all. An enormous gift from such an enormous woman.

And what she did was a good thing. Because not everybody cares about everybody, which is a sad thing. If any one person out there, gay or srtaight, sports fan or not, needs a role model to look up to, look up to Billie Jean King. She’s awesome.