Reply #63: Out magazine says Alabama is worst place to be gay

[billbuckhead]

"Anyone speculating about which state is the most homophobic in the nation probably needs to look no further than Alabama. Out magazine poses and answers the question -- "Is Alabama really the worst place to be a gay person in Bush's America?"

My wife Kate, a native Alabaman, escaped from the nightmare, and even she couldn't believe the depth of the hatred and homophobia exposed by this article, including the heinous statistic that 44% of gay Alabamans are physically beaten and assaulted -- by their own family members. It's truly upsetting, and depressing. You wish the queer community would just get the hell out of there, but as with all stories like this, there are those that still want to stay and fight for their rights. I would consider this an almost insurmountable mountain of intolerance that runs both deep and high -- and all the way to the state house. Judge Roy Moore, famous for wanting to keep a gigantic slab of the Ten Commandments in the courthouse, is planning to run for governor. He says some frightening things about gays in this story that make you wonder what could happen if he is elected -- and he just may be."

<http://www.pamspaulding.com/weblog/2004/12/out-mag-is-alabama-really-worst-place.html>