DiPaola: In Response to Ted Hickman's Harvey Milk Column

The follow was submitted to Dixon Patch in response to Ted Hickman's column about the "glorification" of Harvey Milk, the first gay official elected to public office. 

By Joe Dipaola

California Civil Code Section 51 prohibits civil rights violations of protected classes in public places, including the protected class of sexual orientation, as follows:

Section 51: “...All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, or sexual orientation are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.” (emphasis added) 

California Civil Code Section 51.7 prohibits any act of intimidation or violence against  members of protected classes,including the protected class of sexual orientation:

Section 51.7. (a): “All persons within the jurisdiction of this state have the right to be free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of violence, committed against their persons or property because of political affiliation, or on account of any characteristic listed or defined in subdivision (b) or (e) of Section 51.”
Together, these Civil Code sections guarantee certain basic civil rights protections in California to persons based on their sexual orientation.

On the other hand, the First Amendment guarantees Mr. Hickman’s right to print his opinions. His right to be heard must be respected, even as he intentionally uses words to disrespect persons who have the guaranteed right to be free of such prejudice and discrimination. 

It surprises me that Mr. Hickman would fail to see how his own behaviors ridicule and persecute a minority group simply because they are different from him. Mr. Hickman selectively attacks only one protected class -- but does he feel the same way about other protected classes, such as race or religion? Is this how he respects the civil rights of people different from him? 

For example, no reader would defend an inflammatory racial slur if that were printed in Mr. Hickman’s column.  Race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. are all equally enumerated as protected classes in the California Civil Code. Perhaps asking Mr. Hickman to read  California law is asking too much--so to make it simpler to understand, Mr. Hickman could read about tolerance, respect, and equal protection under the laws. Those are just a few of the important words that Americans, including all of us in Dixon, try to live by.