Dear Editor,

Because I admire Amandala, I wrote to your office on August 21 to suggest that if Colin bh did not understand the moral or legal difference between hitting someone in the head with a thrown bottle and dressing in a way that mek he bex (issue of 19 August), he should not be writing for the newspaper.

Rather, it was Brother Colin’s rants that belonged in the closet. Actually, I proposed his opinions should be kept somewhere with less air than that, but not any place obscene, though I admit, I thought about it.

My 80-word letter was not published, but apparently, the editor shared it with Colin bh, who then responded with a 300-word diatribe (2 September). His factless, fantasy argument—is Brother Colin taking lessons from Clint Eastwood now?—would be silly if it were not unethical and politically dangerous.

If jumping to conclusions was a sport rather than an intellectual failing, Colin bh could jump for Belize. Other than disagreeing with his opinion on the subject, I wrote nothing to suggest I was “LGBT,” “gay or think (I am),” or that I enjoy to “put on … false nails and a wig with bangs.”

I am not LGBT, I do not think I am gay and though some people might find it an improvement on my bald head if I put on any kind of wig, I never have. But, if any of those things were true, it would not change the fact that Brother Colin’s writings show him to be a cowardly bully unworthy of a platform as important as Amandala’s.

Let me try one last time. A friend once said that, insofar as being an object of intimidation and violence, the only difference between being gay and being black is that you don’t have to tell your mother you are black. Preaching hatred and intimidation is wrong. What part of “no” is Brother Colin having trouble understanding?

Nathaniel Wander
Corozal, Belize

(Ed. NOTE: The letter has been edited for content. Also, it is our policy to share criticisms of our columnists with them, whether the letter is published or not.)