Biggin wasnt being disparaging and promote the upholding of negative sterotypes of people of this region. You, on the other hand, wear the sterotype and parade it around as a badge of honor with such comments as "i'd rather be hill billy redneck etc...than gay, fruity, etc in San Fran."

It is people such as yourself, with a narrow worldview and intolerance of others, who not only hold such views but propogate the sterotype by glorifying it in comparision to the "evil" "wrong" or "backward" cultures or lifestyles of others.......in an dual attempt to paint your culture as the "good" by comparing it to the "bad" (which is only a perception you have crafted)culture/lifestyles of other people. Thus, you propogate the same sterotype of yourself which you claim to hate (the redneck sterotype, which, i might add for the record, is just as wrong, misleading, and offensive as ones of gays, blacks, jews, etc).

The fact that homosexuality is different, unorthodox, or even opposed to your belief system doesnt make it wrong. I just makes it different. And thats really what homophobia is all about: not the "fear" of getting hit on by a homosexual, but fear derived from differences and a lack of being able to see things from a different prospective.

I dont mean to berate you personally here. Perhaps that are different types of homophobes: some that just dont want to be around gays, and some that downright hate them. I would place you in the first and Hardaway in the second, that class being pretty dispicable.

you are right he has a right to speak his mind. it probably wasnt in his best interests to do so, but he has that right, and i defend his right to SAY it, but the sentiment behind that statement i vehemently disagree with.

And also, be sure not to confuse the right to free speech with the right to say ANYTHING (which is NOT included). Hate speech is the subjects of numerous court rulings on such a topic. The more classic example however, is the theatre one. You have the right to free speech, but you do NOT have the right to yell "FIRE" in a crowded movie theatre.

As to the topic of this whole debate, homosexuals: it should be emphasized its OK to disapprove of it, which on some level i do. But when it comes down to it, i really dont care. I have a few gay friends. Nice people. If they are homosexual, i really dont care...it doesnt really change anything about them as a person. It may make them different in a way, but.....SO WHAT? We're all different. There is no PROTOTYPE. There is no NORMAL human.

Basically, I just dont understand why it matters so much to people? If a guy is a nice person, when why would i not be friends with him? Because of something he does in his private time? Maybe John reads People Magazine, or Tom likes opera...thats different from what I do/like, but i dont hate him or fear him, i dont become a operaphobe. Why wouldnt i like the guy? Because he doesn't conform with my belief system (and if that's Chrisitanity, then no one conforms wholly to my belief system, since we're all sinners)?