Why We Need Anne Coulter

The gay community needs Anne Coulter. Bigotry is both silly and ugly. And Coulter's actions and words -- referring to John Edwards as a "faggot," shines a spotlight on schoolyard homophobia's silliness and ugliness. As this article shows, Coulter's name-calling from the public stage has generated a rebuke that suggests open homophobia is losing its acceptability. We need the Anne Coulters of the world to parade their ugliness so it continues to become less acceptable.

I'm not ignoring the destructiveness of such homophobia. Locker room taunts and playground teasing like Coulter's leaves emotional scars and even forces powerful adults -- like NBA player John Amaeche -- to cower in the confines of the closet. But those taunts are done in relative privacy and what schoolboy -- especially if he suspects he might be different -- wants to run home and tell daddy the other boys are calling him a fag (I sure didnt)?

But when Anne Coulter hurls it in the public square, everyone can see the ugliness of it. Like the picture above, Coulter presents an ugly image no matter how you look at it. People who might have casually and thoughtlessly uttered "that's so gay" and "faggot" may see a reflection of themselves in those moments and recoil. It is -- to a lesser degree -- akin to seeing the hoses turned onto civil rights marchers in the 60s. It says, so this is where prejudice and hatred leads. And seeing the destination, hopefully a few will turn back.

And although I agree that Coulter should be repudiated, I don't think she should be forcibly silenced. First, I think a society that "values" free speech should not seek shut speech off that it finds undesirable. I advocate for gay rights and marriage equality, something that most people in the U.S. find undesirable and disgusting. Disagree with me, denounce me or ignore me, but don't deny me the right to say what I think.

Secondly, I agree with Dan Savage:

"When we start acting like the thought police, it plays into the right-wing paranoia that we are going to force them all to say only nice things about us in public," Savage said. "I think we would gain ground faster in the gay and lesbian civil rights movement if we drop the Sally Field act of, 'You like me! You really like me!' "