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Show Tuesday, Chronicle - Page Six January 17. 1989 EDITORIAL U.S. must lead rights, 'struggle,; On Sunday, Jan. 15, during a conference on security and economic issues, NATO representatives, Warsaw Pact nations and 12 other European countries concluded with a signing of a pledge to new, "stricter" guidelines on human rights. On the same day in Prague, Czechoslovakia, government police, backed by the Czech Communist Party's people's militia, gassed and truncheoned human rights demonstrators who defied a ban on public demonstrations. The protest, in honor of Jan Palach's "human-torch- " protest on Jan. 16, 1969, was attacked by police, ironically, as the demonstrators began singing the national anthem. A concurrent protest in Leipzig, East Germany, met with a similar fate. This incident illustrates the hollowness of signed "pledges" to honor human rights. Though Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has successfully opened channels for discourse on human rights behind the Iron Curtain, Eastern Bloc countries have not yet neared the guarantees of human rights of their Western counterparts. For example, while the United States and European countries concern themselves with the finer points of freedom of speech, Soviet Bloc nations have only recently allowed limited freedom of expression. In the West, citizens are allowed to protest their government and its policies as long as they observe methods; in the Eastern Bloc, nonviolent protesters singing national anthems are bludgeoned by police. Critics of the United States who attempt to compare the two systems have little ground upon which to stand. The point of this editorial is not to glorify the United States: We have committed (and continue to commit) gross injustices against human rights. We are, however, at a level far more advanced than many other countries around the world. Yet we should not defend our position with Rather, we should realize that it is our obligation to remain at the vanguard of the defense of human rights both around the world and within our own borders. If we wish to maintain our nation's moral stature, we must combat human rights violations, regardless of the ideological orientation of the oppressing government. Conversely, Eastern European countries must recognize the rights of their own peoples. For the people of Eastern Bloc countries, World War II was not a victory over totalitarianism; instead, fascism for it was an exchange of right-win- g totalitarian communism.. Most Hungarians still recall the Soviet Army's brutal repression of the 1956 revolution. The annihilation of the Prague Spring in 1968 remains a potent memory for even the younger members of the Czech populace.. The Polish government's treatment of the outlawed Solidarity Union reminds Western observers that military "might" still determines the political "right" in those countries.The United States should act as if it were the model for the rest of the world to follow. In demon strating our willingness to defend human rights regardless of political beliefs, we may indeed feet the condition of the world s peoples. non-viole- frt W Andrew Hunt- G HRONICLE . The Daily Utah Chronicle is an independent Student newspaper published during fall, winter and spring quarters, excluding test weeks and quarter breaks, by the University Publications Council. Editorials reflect the opinion of the editorial board, and not necessarily the opinions of the student body or the administration. Subscriptions must be prepaid. Forward all subscription correspondence, including change of address, to the Business Manager, Daily Utah Chronicle, 240 Union, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112 One of my earliest encounters with homophobia probably the most abominable manifestation of homo- -' occurred when I was in the ninth grade. phobia in recent months. On college campuses across the country, which are supposed to represent bastions about remarks I should preface my homophobia of enlightenment, violence against homosexuals his with a quick anecdote about my junior high school increased dramatically. Several homosexuals on such nameshall teacher. remain This teacher (who history the noted campuses as Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth have class less) stood in front of every day extolling been beaten, harassed, chased and publicly humiliatvirtues of intolerance, offering a few kind words about forms of dissent all and and ed, and their places of residence have been vandalapartheid equating any actuized. Even on the University of Utah campus, such with perversion. "America, love it or leave it," he derogatory terms as "fag" and 1,faggot" are frequently ally said. I found his bigotry appalling, yet neither my .friends nor their parents objected. In fact, the mother ; used in discourse. , AH of this ludicrous behavior simply contributes to of one of my friends said the only thing that horrified her the was the thought of a homosexual teaching her. an environment in which homosexuals live in con- children. stant fear. In part, this is because people's attitudes Her logic struck me as incoherent and frenzied. On toward sex and sexual preferences remain stubbornly the one hand, there was my junior high teacher, rewritlodged in the "Victorian era. Homophobia is born of to fear and nurtured with mendacity, violence and ignowith his ideological beliefs, ing history correspond rance. Instead of realizing that homosexuality is every preaching repugnant malevolence and brainwashing students with banal Cold War stereotypes. Yet parents bit as natural as any other sexual orientation and were completely at ease with this chap teaching their homosexuals are really no different from anyone else, children this sort of deranged tripe. But the idea of a they resort to the dumb, vigilante mentality and spew sexual different a with has out hackneyed cliches about a group of people they person preference (which know nothing about. absolutely no bearing on teaching abilities) instructing their youngsters thrust these parents into a world of But it would be a tremendous error to say that terror and apprehension. homophobia would vanish tomorrow if people In the years that have lapsed since my days as a changed their attitudes. Homophobia must be underschool have attitudes stood in the larger student, and economic conjunior high homophobic worse. We text. must understand that we live in a society in grown increasingly Case in point: Last month, Lee Bednarski of Dallas which trillions of dollars are being pumped into the was convicted of murdering two homosexual men. Stealth bomber and other similar weapons of. death, Instead of receiving a life sentence for this heinous yet the federal government's budget for AIDS research has dropped to an e crime, Bednarski was given a lenient sentence of 30 low. And worst of all, ' he'll in means be roam(which years prison probably homophobic attitudes contribute significantly to such Dallas around the of four streets in In the inhumane priorities. Most people are not outraged by ing years). course of the trial, Texas District Court Judge Jack the federal government's pathetic AIDS budget because they feel AIDS is a disease acquired only by Hampton, the viper who presided over this farce, referred to the two murdered men as "queers." The gays. Since the welfare of gays is of no importance to "honorable" Judge also resorted to the ancient tactic of many "straight" people, fewer heterosexuals the the two men victim, are inclined to speak out against such gross injustices. blaming claiming probably would not have been murdered "if they hadn't been But the homophobes fail to realize that homophobia does cruising the streets, picking up teen-ag- e boys." damage to everyone involved. To homosexuals, it What the judge failed to note is there are other mismeans living in constant fear and hiding their identity. erable souls on death convicted of the exact same To "straight" people, it means becoming blind, deaf crime as Bednarski. That doesn't mean the death and numb to the suffering of their fellow human It's is meant obserbe to an penalty acceptable. simply beings. vation of our "justice" system at work. , Andrew Hunt, a junior majoring in history and ecoThe Bednarski case is not unusual, although it is nomics, is the managing editor of the Chronicle. socio-politic- al all-tim- . Editor in Chief. Managing Editor. News Editor. Edtorial Editor Sports Editor ' Feature Editor Photography Editor Copy Editor so-call- ed . so-call- ed Darren Hawkins , ......... .Andrew Hunt . . , . . . . Lori Bona Hunt Justin Toth . .Kent Condon .Doanie Wimmer .............. ........ ......... Guy Elder . .Ellen Garff Hawkins ............ ,........... Amber McKee Editor. ............... Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant '. - Editorial Board: Lori Bona Hunt, Tamarah Hardesty, Darren Hawkins, Andrew Hunt, Justin Toth Night - : finger-pointin- g. The Daily Utah J HO ANP.THW WAMTTO BUVTH6 Homophobia ignores suffering nt self-righteo- us &VvvN Mint . . News Editor Editorial Editor Sports Editor . . . . Feature Editor. . . . . . . , . , .Ed Ruiz .Tamarah Hardesty Dirk Facer Sharon Deckert Assistant Photography Editor Assistant Copy Editor . . Administration Reporter. . .., .'. Aaron Ashcraft . . . . .Steve Moore .Ken Southwick Scott Stone Mike Allsop Vic Garcia Christian Aggeler ...Arlene Calkins .......... ......... ............ ASUU Reporter. News Reporters. ....... Feature Writers Jennifer Peterson Sports Writer. Photographer. Business Manager Accountant Classifieds . Columnist. . , ' Isaiah Stewart Loren Jorgensen ........ Andrew Holloway , ...... ...... ... Rolwrt ' ...... . .Bel-A- . . .Kay ..... Artists. . . Accounting Clerk . . Collections '. , Account Executives . , ... Williams ........Byron Kim Bartel . . ........ .Tammie . . . . . , Production Manager. , . . . . Assistant Production Manager Production Assistant " , . 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