Harvey Fierstein comes out swinging

Today's New York Times includes an Op/Ed piece by out actor Harvey Fierstein who finds all the hubbub over Don Imus' bigoted remarks to be rather amusing. Says Fierstein:

 

Since I’m a second-class citizen — a gay man — my seats for the ballgame of American discourse are way back in the bleachers. I don’t have to wait long for a shock jock or stand-up comedian to slip up with hateful epithets aimed at me and mine. Hate speak against homosexuals is as commonplace as spam. It’s daily traffic for those who profess themselves to be regular Joes, men of God, public servants who live off my tax dollars, as well as any number of celebrities.

Fierstein goes on to suggest that this current crop of hate we speech we seem to have reaped is due to the attacks against the idea of "political correctness". He also points out how bashing gays carries less of a penalty than apparently bashing the Rutgers women's basketball team. After all, Imus has been homophobic (and, it should be said, racist and sexist) for years, has as Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage and others who still rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

I think Fierstein is spot on about the whole PC issue. If saying it's wrong for a corporation to get rich off of someone mocking minorities is PC, then fricking call me PC. BTW, this is not infringing on anyone's free speech as Charles Karel Bouley seems to think. Bouley is confusing free speech with the right to get paid. While I believe Imus is free to rant about "nappy headed 'hos" till the cows come home, I don't think he has a "right" to get paid a dime for it.

Fierstein concludes on a slightly more optimistic note, saying:

We are so surrounded by expressions of intolerance that I am in shock and awe that anyone noticed all these recent high-profile instances. Still, I’m gladdened because our no longer being deaf to them may signal their eventual eradication.

And I actually feel even more optimistic. The entire Isaiah Washington affair truly raised awareness of the use of the "F" word. And the reaction against Tim Hardaway was swift and powerful. While I wish Imus had been sacked a long time ago, I am glad he's gone now and this does set a precedent. The next time someone of his ilk bashes us, it's going to be that much harder for the powers that be to sit back and deliver a nonsensical slap on the wrist.