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Dr. Gary Burgess, Sr.

Photo Source: Anderson Independent Mail, April 30. 2009

THE SPIDER AND THE DAMSEL FLY:

The Doleful Duties of the Sex Police

by John R. Guthrie

Anderson, S.C. A crescent moon hung in a starlit sky above the dimly lit park. A car pulled to the curb on the bordering street. It was clean recent model sedan, as you would expect for a public school district superintendent.

It was pleasant that night. The man who entered the park wore his black, form-fitting crew neck tee, no jacket. The tee accented the fact that he was well built and of youthful appearance for a man of 51. In a grove of moon-shadowed trees near the lake, another man waited. Waited like a spider.

The second man, tentative as a damselfly now, walked over and stopped near the first. They conversed briefly. There was a glint of something metallic. In a heartbeat, as if with a spider’s silken bonds, Damselfly was bound, hands secured behind him by bracelets forged from steel.

A black and white pulled in and parked on the street. The prisoner was placed in the back seat, the officer putting his palm on his head as he bent over to keep him from bumping it on the doorframe. As if a bump on the head mattered at this point. The squad car pulled away, the prisoner in that peculiar forward leaning posture that handcuffed prisoners must assume.

The wrecker soon arrived, lights flashing like a disco ball. Damselfly’s car was schlepped away to the impoundment lot.

The arresting officer affirmed to the authorities that he “has knowledge that immoral acts occur at (that portion of the park.)” The prisoner was charged with “soliciting an immoral act,” then released on bail. To go home to his spouse and children.

His booking photo appeared in the newspaper the next day. He is, in the peculiar racial jargon of our times, ”black”—really more sepia. His look, that of pain beyond pain, is difficult find words for.

Besides solicitation, there were two other de facto “immoral acts” that evening in the eyes of many South Carolina residents: Being gay and being black. The crime of being black was aggravated in the minds of more than a few by being black and in a position of authority.

South Carolina is a de facto theocracy—Southern Baptists and their clones. I grew up nearby, I escaped, courtesy of the U.S. Marines as a teen. South Carolinians worry a great deal about sex, especially someone else’s sex, especially gay sex. Many of our Palmetto State Christians, particularly those with a TV following, are among the most successful racketeers in history. They have it on biblical authority that bigotry and hatred toward gays is fine. Never mind that the Bible says a lot of strange things—like any thing a woman touches or sits on during her period is ”Unclean.” But misogyny doesn’t play nearly as well as homophobia.

One would think our police officers—and the self-aggrandizing pols who write such laws – would have more to do. Many gays there feel constrained to closet themselves in traditional marriage--like in Eng Lee’s memorable film, “Brokeback Mountain.”

There is a great deal of publicity, of political capitol, to be gained by fanning the fires of sexual hatred and ignorance in the Palmetto State, be it gay sex or otherwise. One state legislator, State Rep. Ralph Davenport, R-Boiling Springs, for instance, who advertises himself as being a member of North Spartanburg’s First Baptist Church, garnered significant publicity in recent times by attempting to pass a law against sex toys. He wanted their sale or possession a felony. Someone could be kidnapped and have one of these devices used on them against their will, he said. He and others there manage to say stuff like that with a straight face.

The Chickasaw Plum - Volume VI - Number 6 - June 2009

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