Polekatparsons wrote:
>it IS his business if he is concerned there may be a health risk to him
>and his family...NOT for the others' lifestyle...but for whether it is
>safe for his family to allow his ferrets to go over there... and this
>statement led into what his concern was...it was not right to take it
>out of context like that...and make it seem 'more' than it was...
 
If his neighbor was straight would he have asked this question?
 
Did I take offence to the "tone" of his post?  Yes I did.  To
automatically assume that someone who is gay may have aids is wrong.
And thaT is exactly what he did.
 
>Tom sounded like he was just being concerned for his ferrets and
>family... there ARE illnesses that can be transferred from human to
>ferret to human... if Tom did not know if HIV/AIDS was one of them,
>where better to ask than our diverse, mostly knowledgeable, group?
 
I agree that he was concerned.  My point is that he was concerned for
the wrong reasons.  Yes there are many illnesses that can be transferred.
On that token what does the sexuality of a person have to do with it?
Nothing........ Yes he choose a great place to ask a question.  In my
opinion he asked the question in a manner that would facilitate a
response from a certain minority.
 
>rather than making him feel stupid and as if he were attacking
>gays...[that is how your post came across to me]...why couldn't you have
>just told him that it is not possible..and pointed him in the direction
>of some educational sites to learn more...[which you DID do...but the
>rest of your attitude was unacceptable to me]...
 
"Attacking" may be the wrong word here.  Making assumptions based on a
lack of knowledge and fear is the way I looked it.  I responded in the
same tone he took in his post.  He choose to bring the "gay" issue into
his question.  I choose to put the "gay" issue in my response.
 
>it IS his business if he is concerned there may be a health risk to him
>and his family...NOT for the others' lifestyle...but for whether it is
>safe for his family to allow his ferrets to go over there... and this
>statement led into what his concern was...it was not right to take it
>out of context like that...and make it seem 'more' than it was...
 
What was not right?  That he assumed that just because his neighbor was
gay that his ferrets and family are at risk of aids now because they
watched them?
 
I can argue this point for days but I am going to choose not too.  It is
that kind off backwoods thinking that has kept this country in the dark
about the epidemic of HIV and Aids for so long.  I can't change the world
but perhaps a few people on this list will open there minds a little to
this to pic.
 
>i hope you have not hurt Tom...
 
I hope I have not either.  My intentions were not hurt anyone, but I was
highly upset by his assumptions.  I may have made presumptions of my own.
And if I offended anyone I apologize but on the other hand do not regret
a word of what I have wrote.  When this topic is discussed toes always
get stepped on.
 
Mike & the Lil Devils
[Posted in FML issue 4405]