On December 21, 2011 a message was posted by Paul Winter of Chatswood, NSW on the J-Wire news site in response to an article I wrote about marriage equality:
The entirety of this comment is offensive in the extreme. The author states that GLBT people are “abnormal”, “disabled”, “developmentally immature”, “confused”, “not fully developed”, “in need of counselling” and implies that we are not capable of having “fully functioning and fulfilling” relationships.
Winter’s anti-intellectual ramblings are reminiscent of that employed by the infamous dictators who relegated undesirables to sub-human status.
Further to a complaint by me regarding the deeply offensive and vilifying nature of the comment, the J-Wire editor Henry Benjamin swiftly removed the comment. Fortunately the damage done by publication of the comment had been mitigated.
I hope never to see this sort of language published ever again on any web site, especially a Jewish one.
This is revolting. I did, however, manage to find a giggle in the bile. He asserts that people with a ‘disability’ (including his own) should not be denied rights etc – except parenting.
I am sure all disabled people including those with cancer (?!) will be thrilled to hear they should be denied the right to parent.
Winters refers to “the ancient and honourable practice of marriage … ” and suggests that it must still be maintained as such, only because of tradition, for heterosexuals exclusively. I wonder what he thinks of the ancient and (not-so-honourable) practice of slavery, of child brides, of sacrifices, of the death penalty; as well as the not-so-ancient and not-so-honourable practice of racism, of denying women voting rights, of animal cruelty. We’re a wiser, more tolerant society, less prejudiced, less arrogant and certainly less primitive.