Dear Editor,
What took place in Millsborough recently with the alleged gays being evicted from a home they occupied, and the subsequent demolition of the house, is not just an issue of gays occupying a home and getting rowdy. This issue is deeply rooted in poverty.
So what we see happening is the intersecting of homosexuality and poverty, and a group of minority boys is treated as "outcast" and the worse that our society can produce. The issue is a wider social issue that transcends these alleged gays, but seeing that they are the ones caught up in this issue, let me attempt to do some analysis of what I think is happening here.
We have these young boys who, for the most part, have been chased from their homes and the communities in which they lived, because of their supposedly sexual preferences, or because they are not doing the accepted norm. They are not wanted in the community by neither family nor neighbours, and so what do they do? They turn to these abandoned houses or open lots, and they find solace among themselves where they feel a sense of community and belonging. I can only imagine the shame and the anger that these guys must be feeling now that they have been turned out of this place, where they had found comfort and a place for shelter.
Have we ever wondered why persons capture houses and even land to build houses? Is it because they want to live this way? I do not think so. We must take charge of this issue of homelessness and this is the opportunity for us to take charge of it. Today it's the alleged gays, but tomorrow it may be someone else being thrown on the streets. This is a grand opportunity for the Church to show that they have compassion and that they will not tear anybody down, but rather extend a hand to help them up.
The time has come for us to take a serious look at this issue of homelessness and recognise that it's not a gay issue.
Ralston Chamberlain
Toronto, Ontario
ralston.chamberlain@mail.utoronto.ca
Homelessness not only a gay issue
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What took place in Millsborough recently with the alleged gays being evicted from a home they occupied, and the subsequent demolition of the house, is not just an issue of gays occupying a home and getting rowdy. This issue is deeply rooted in poverty.
So what we see happening is the intersecting of homosexuality and poverty, and a group of minority boys is treated as "outcast" and the worse that our society can produce. The issue is a wider social issue that transcends these alleged gays, but seeing that they are the ones caught up in this issue, let me attempt to do some analysis of what I think is happening here.
We have these young boys who, for the most part, have been chased from their homes and the communities in which they lived, because of their supposedly sexual preferences, or because they are not doing the accepted norm. They are not wanted in the community by neither family nor neighbours, and so what do they do? They turn to these abandoned houses or open lots, and they find solace among themselves where they feel a sense of community and belonging. I can only imagine the shame and the anger that these guys must be feeling now that they have been turned out of this place, where they had found comfort and a place for shelter.
Have we ever wondered why persons capture houses and even land to build houses? Is it because they want to live this way? I do not think so. We must take charge of this issue of homelessness and this is the opportunity for us to take charge of it. Today it's the alleged gays, but tomorrow it may be someone else being thrown on the streets. This is a grand opportunity for the Church to show that they have compassion and that they will not tear anybody down, but rather extend a hand to help them up.
The time has come for us to take a serious look at this issue of homelessness and recognise that it's not a gay issue.
Ralston Chamberlain
Toronto, Ontario
ralston.chamberlain@mail.utoronto.ca
Homelessness not only a gay issue
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