So, that June, did the gay bar where the New Orleans branch of his Metropolitan Community Church met, killing thirty-two. Ashamed families refused to claim the bodies; churches refused to hold memorial services. Syndicated advice columnist Ann Landers answered a letter-writer agonizing over her gay brother’s suicide by quoting a psychiatrist: “Over and over again it is found that a homosexual male has had an intense relationship with the mother and a deficient relationship with the father.” The advice columnist concluded, “Perhaps just knowing these facts will help some parents to rear their
...more
