New Tricks, Old Wrongs

To the Editors of The Crimson:

State senator Dennis McKenna claims, according to the November 22 Crimson, that the proposed Gay Rights Bill gives gay people extra protection (more than other citizens) in that it restricts an employer right to make personnel decisions for personal reasons. This is an interesting statement, especially in that the same charge could be made concerning similar existing prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of race, religion and sex. There is no place in the employment process for "personal reasons" which do not relate directly to an individual's ability to do the job. In this case "personal reasons" are no more than a euphemism for prejudice.

Indeed it is remarkable to see Sen. McKenna using the word "gay." When he last spoke on the Gay Rights Bill, on the floor of the State Senate, he referred to "lesbos and fags." Remanding one of the segregationists of 20 years ago. McKenna has changed his tactics but not his goal. i.e. the preservation of his "right" to discriminate against gay people for "personal reasons." Old bigots, unlike old dogs, can learn new tricks.

But that doesn't mean we have to fall for them. The Gay Rights Bill will bar discrimination on the basis of sexual preference in the areas of housing, employment and credit. These are not special protections but rights which most Americans take for granted Changing the language of bigotry should not prevent people from seeing it for what it is. Jake Stevens '86   Chairperson, H-R Gay and Lesbian Student   Association