Musicals101logo

Saying "No" to Bigotry

 

The following is the full text of an e-mail sent by Musicals101.com's creator, John Kenrick, to Jay Dean the director of the Natchez Opera Festival on April 8, 2016. It was sparked by the anti-LGBT law enacted in Mississippi earlier that week.

Dear Mr. Dean,

While I appreciate your assurance that in Natchez I would be among people of good will, the fact remains that Mississippi has just legally sanctioned bigotry that masquerades as faith.

Having never been to your city, I was genuinely looking forward to meeting you and taking part in your opera festival this May. However, this new law changes things. It is morally impossible for me to visit (let alone give lectures in) a state that protects and re-defines bigotry as “sincerely held religious beliefs.” It would be insanity for me, as an openly gay man, to travel to a state where I could be denied meals, accommodations, medical care and even police protection by anyone who claims that my homosexuality offends their religious sensibilities.

And trust me, I would only too happily offend the sensibilities of any bigots in your audiences. It disgusts me that any government, let alone one in the United States, could pass and boast about a law like the one your pig ignorant governor has just signed.

Denying someone basic rights in the name of religious beliefs is not merely unconstitutional, and worse than anti-American—it is precisely what ISIS is now doing in its caliphate, and what terrorists do when they blow up innocent people in the name of one deity over another. In effect, your state has declared me—and millions more— to be less human in the eyes of the law than others are. This is not only offensive; it is dangerous.

Therefore, with no malice towards you, but with utter revulsion at Mississippi’s “hate in the name of God” law, I must withdraw from my planned talks for the Natchez Opera Festival.

Sincerely,

JOHN KENRICK

Jay Dean, director of the Natchez Opera sent a reply to my withdrawal that reads in part:

"I have lived in Mississippi for 28 years and I have NEVER seen anyone in my world treated badly or unfairly because of being gay. I don’t personally know anyone who has an issue with gay people. At least 40% of my friends are gay and live in Mississippi. This is all an incredibly overblown reaction to something that most of us know nothing about. . . . I think it best that you stay in New York where it is safe and there is no prejudice or ignorance. (Not!)"

My follow-up to Mr. Dean reads in part:

"Claiming that none of your gay friends in Mississippi have experienced homophobic hated verifies that you are either willfully clueless or an out and out liar. Your gay neighbors just had their civil rights compromised. If that does not outrage and terrify you, what does that say about you? Your underblown reaction to this is horrifying. No reply could have made me feel better about withdrawing from an event held in a state that legalizes hate."

Back to: Musicals101