CHRISTINE Holt (Your Letters, Sept 4) denies she is a gay propagandist, whilst admitting - rather belatedly - that she belongs to a gay support group and has taken part in the recent gay saturnalia in Manchester.
I have no wish to be rude, but her grasp of the facts regarding the behaviour of homosexuals seems to me to be rather tenuous. Her references to "gay children", the incidence of homosexuality in the population, sexually transmitted diseases, and the sexual molestation of children - not to speak of her totally irrelevant reference to the suffragettes - all suggest the sort of ill-founded script typical of an organised group.
Ms Holt accuses me of taking a "negative" view of organised homosexuality. I prefer to think my attitude rests on reality.
About three years ago a relative of mine through marriage died of Aids. He was not gay, bisexual or a drug addict. He was a perfectly innocent man who had the great misfortune to suffer from the serious blood disorder known as haemophilia, a condition which requires frequent blood transfusions. On one occasion my relative was mistakenly and tragically given blood infected with HIV. There were hundreds like him - innocent people deprived of their lives owing to a disease for which the so-called gay community must bear the major responsibility.
It was at that point that I realised that my previously relaxed, live-and-let-live response to homosexuality was a less than adequate attitude. I needed to know the truth: so I scoured the relevant literature, and have become much more critical of homosexual politics - hence my letters.
Contrary to Ms Holt's view of me, I have not the slightest objection to homosexuals as individuals. I have met and known many, and I have to say that most have been attractive and charming people. But I absolutely deplore the sort of organised, triumphalist homosexuality Ms Holt appears to support: it is offensive and irresponsible - not least in its effects on children and young people.
RAY HONEYFORD,
Wragby Close, Bury.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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