Abby puts a reader in his place

[Quetzal]

NEIGHBOR WOULD EXILE GAY FLAG TO SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW

I live in a family-oriented neighborhood. My problem is my next-door neighbor flies his gay pride flag in his front yard. Because we have a lot of families with young children who do not need to be subjected to that kind of thing, I have asked him numerous times to remove it.

His response is it's a free country and he does not subject anybody to his lifestyle.

I strongly feel that in a neighborhood devoted to children's morals and the way life should be, he should not be allowed to have that flag in his front yard for everyone to see. I threatened if he didn't take it down, I'd call the police. I feel it's harming the children to see that flag flying, especially on a busy street that everyone travels on. What should I do? -- RIGHTEOUS IN NEW CASTLE, PA.

DEAR RIGHTEOUS: First of all, calm down. Your neighbor is hurting no one, and "young children" will not understand what the flag symbolizes. Unless there are codes, covenants or restrictions in your neighborhood governing the display of flags, your neighbor has a right to hoist his banner. Rather than picking a fight about something so insignificant, you should concentrate on cultivating your own garden and stop obsessing about what's going on in his.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucda/20050819/lf_ucda/neighborwouldexilegayflagtosomewhereovertherainbow;_ylt=AqqT5jnJTnMg_NOnsndFKzpxFb8C;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[kweerwolf]

1. Good ol' Abby!

My favorite response from her to a homophobic letter by a Freeper type was this one:

"You could move."
- Abigail Van Buren, "Dear Abby," in response to a reader who
complained that a gay couple was moving in across the street and
wanted to know what he could do to improve the quality of the
neighborhood

Three words. All of them one syllable. Simple enough even a Freeper can understand them!

[jackelope72]

2. Yes, I read that the other day!

I started cheering and clapping, which my Mom found to be quite unusual, since I'm more likely to scream obscenities at the newspaper than I am to cheer at it. I had to read her the whole letter and response. She was laughing by the time I was done. "Well, good for her," she said.

[UncleSepp]

3. Go Abby! And what about OTHER family values?

If I had children, I would love for them to grow up seeing that a person can be gay, grow up, have a house in a neighborhood, and fly a flag if they feel like it. If I had children, I'd want them to see gay people as well as straight people. I mean, what if one of my kids would turn out to be gay, and would never have known of having a gay neighbor, teacher, dentist, mechanic... SOMEBODY at least to let them know that they will, in fact, survive adolescence.

I know that the narrow-minded jerk who wrote the letter would not feel the same way, but it pisses me off that these people think that they have the only possible understanding of "children's morals and the way life should be".

[kbm8795]

4. I'm not surprised by people like this at all. . .

I figured it was only going to be a matter of time before the wingnuts would start insisting that we not be allowed to live in their precious "family" neighborhoods, just like they used to do thirty years ago.

Maybe the gay guy should take up his own petition and suggest the bigot neighbor move to a "family" neighborhood operated by some wingnut religious group.

[TaleWgnDg]

5. Freedom of speech, liberty, property rights . . . the rainbow flag

.
Freedom of speech, liberty, property rights, privacy rights . . . the rainbow flag waver is very well protected. You go, Dear Abby!

______________________________________________________________




Vancouver city hall employee walks up a flight of stairs painted in bright colours in Vancouver, Canada, July 27, 2005.
The stairs have been painted in colours of the Rainbow Flag as part of week-long celebrations marking Gay Pride Week in the city.
REUTERS/Andy Clark

.

[ronnykmarshall]

6. Go ABBY!

Isn't one her daughters writing the column now?

Didn't both Abby and Ann Landers pass away?

[TaleWgnDg]

7. Yes and yes . . . n/t