In the news: Homosexuality and Hugo Chavez

●  The Left loves to tell us how repressed and undemocratic America really is. But tell me if something like this has happened in the U.S. lately. OK, there was Stonewall, but that was way back in 196-bloody-9, OK? The whole Western world was unenlightened toward homosexuality in those days, not just Americans. But, in a country that claims to have instituted democratic reforms and which decriminalized homosexuality in 1994, the beating up of gay campaigners like former Labourite Peter Tatchell and Right Said Fred lead singer Richard Fairbrass is the real expression of repression. Tatchell, Fairbrass and other gay campaigners were punched and kicked by neo-Nazis who infiltrated a pan-European celebration in Moscow marking the 13th anniversary of Russia's decriminalization of homosexuality. And yet who did the Moscow police arrest? The gay campaigners. The neo-Nazis and homophobic Russian nationalists walked free. Tatchell, a moderate liberal who has not been hesitant to speak out against radical Islam and once tried to perform a citizen's arrest on Zimbabwean strongman Robert Mugabe, was still in a daze as a result of his beating when police apprehended him. Welcome to Putin's Russia. It may not be the power center of Soviet communism anymore, but Russia still has a long way to go before it can be considered truly democratic and free.
● And, on the subject of homosexuality, this story elicited a sympathetic nod from me. The owner of the club, Tom McFeely (an unfortunate name for a gay man, you must admit!), stated that his gay male patrons had previously been subjected to unkind comments by lesbians and straights alike and were sometimes stared at like "zoo animals." So he petitioned, under Australia's Equal Opportunity Act, to refuse entry to lesbians and heterosexuals, and won. McFeely said that large groups of women on "hens' parties" would make his gay male customers uncomfortable. "There are numerous places where heterosexual people can go," McFeely said of the decision. "But for my homosexuals, there's none." This, I feel, was a good outcome. McFeely is right. The Peel Hotel is a private establishment. As such, the owner has the right to allow (and disallow) whatever clientele he deems appropriate to his establishment. It doesn't matter whether you consider homosexuality right or wrong. What matters is respecting privately owned property. McFeely is the owner of The Peel Hotel and won the well-deserved right to establish how he wants his business to be run.
● In case, dear reader, you're wondering why the sudden emphasis on homosexuality here from me, the answer is varied: 1. Both stories are in the recent news, 2. they're both certainly newsworthy, and 3. I am bisexual. My sexuality is moot considering I am a happily married person and I love my wife and am totally devoted to her. And I have, for the record, never had a same-sex experience. But I do know how it feels, at least before becoming the married guy that I am now, to desire the same sex. Now, both as a bisexual and as a conservative, I do not always see eye-to-eye with the gay community. I have my own issues with them. But I don't think any nation that considers itself democratic should allow violence toward them or deny the owner of privately owned property the right to set his or her own rules in favor of them.
● Lastly, but in no way leastly, my heart soars at the news that thousands—THOUSANDS—of Venezuelans rioted against Hugo Chavez in the wake of Chavez' decision to shut down a television station critical of his government. Like most South American dictators, Chavez rose to power in the wake of considerable human-rights abuses. It's really funny how the Left will assert that the War in Iraq was all about oil, yet cannot see that Chavez' "revolution" in Venezuela is about the same. Does anyone think that Chavez could successfully throw his socialist weight around if not for his country's vast oil reserves? Gimme a break. To those Venezuelans who bravely gave the Venezuelan police forces as good as they got, I say: If ever you want to consider (legal) emigration to America, then I sincerely hope that our government opens the door for you and I trust you will make as positive a contribution to American society that anti-Castro Cubans have.