ROGERS — I get a lot of telephone calls during the course of a day.
Over the length of my career, I have answered thousands of calls. Believe me, folks who are, shall we say, different, can always find the newspaper’s phone number whether or not they can find anything else.
I don’t think I have ever been as taken aback by a phone call as I was with one I got on June 25. To put it mildly, I was horrified — this from a person who has been called every name in the book by callers.
This man was calling about Jerry Sandusky. More accurately, he was comparing the convicted pedophile to people who are gay.
The call started out innocently enough. He asked if I had been following the Jerry Sandusky case. Yes, I had. I knew the former Penn State assistant coach had just been convicted of 40-plus counts relating to the sexual abuse of young boys. The children were participants in a charitable program Sandusky established for at-risk boys, mostly those whose fathers were not in the home.
The man then pointed out to me we had published a news story about a gentleman in Northwest Arkansas who acknowledged he is gay. The gentleman works in a field where he might have contact with children.
I was momentarily at a loss as to where this caller was going. I shouldn’t have been, but every once in a while, even an old cynic like me likes to think the world isn’t so warped.
The caller then told me he had told his grandchildren not to visit this man’s place of employment. And then he challenged me. What did I think about that?
What did I think about it? Well I thought this guy was crazy, that’s what I thought. But I remained calm. I pointed out no one said Sandusky is gay; he is a pedophile. They are not the same.
I pointed out there have never been any criminal charges leveled at the gentlemen who lives in our midst. I told him I didn’t understand why he would prevent his grandchildren from having a gratifying experience just because someone involved in the program is gay.
It was at this point in the conversation I guess I tuned out. The caller ranted for a while, and I suppose, he realized he wasn’t going to sway me to his way of thinking so he hung up. Which is good because I had quit listening.
I don’t even have a clue as to what he wanted me to do. Write a story about his theory?
He is just lucky I didn’t rip into him. On occasion, I have been known to howl at the moon.
I might have said something like: I have many gay and lesbian friends, and not one of them is a pedophile. They are good and compassionate people. I assure you, were they not, they would not be my friends. I’m picky that way.
To equate gay and lesbian people to a pedophile is an affront to heterosexual me, to my gay and lesbian friends, and it should be an affront to everyone.
I do not know why some people are wired to be heterosexual and others to be homosexual. It is what it is, and the sooner everyone accepts that, the better off we will all be.
I have no desire to get into a religious/political discussion. I get enough of that on a daily basis, and, truthfully, I don’t much care what talking heads think. I think independently and make up my own mind.
Instead, I am talking about the human issue. This is America, people, and we were founded on a basic tenet of equality. We are not supposed to think about skin color, religion or sexual preference.
I would suggest to the man who called me — and others like him — he needs to reflect on the basic principles of our country before making such disgusting pronouncements.
Independence Day — America’s birthday — is Wednesday. It seems an excellent time to think about acceptance and, for some, adopting a new way of thinking.
Leeanna Walker is editor of the Rogers Morning News. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NWALeeanna.