I was very disturbed by the opinion piece by Wayne Besen about a “dog park shooting,” which, he inferred, was the consequence of “political polarisation.” Are you kidding me?
First of all, it, was a murder, not “a shooting.” The article describes how one Tampa area dogwalker discovered that Walter Lay, who also walked their dog in the park, was left-of-centre and gay, so began bullying and threatening him with homophobic slurs, culminating with the cold-blooded murder of Lay.
This wasn’t a political disagreement. This was a homophobic murder, plain and simple. The fact is that MAGA rhetoric deliberately demonise minorities to create hate and division for political gain, and that is what is increasing homophobia in Florida.
As a community, we need to redouble our fight against the dehumanising of fellow human beings, and that shouldn’t be a cause for left or right, it should be the cause of every decent person living in the USA.
The answer is to fight against homophobes, and to challenge hate and division, not keep quiet so as not to upset anyone!
Sincerely,
Ross Wright, Wilton Manors
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