Recently, it was reported a woman who made startlingly homophobic comments during an anti-discrimination legislative hearing in Lincoln, Nebraska had been diagnosed with
schizophrenia.
Most people would surely understand that the woman was ill and be understanding.
However, commentators on gay news site Pink News seized the opportunity to spew a barrage of offensive posts about mental illness, as well as post vicious attacks on the woman's family.
Pink News staff don't seem to have seen any need to delete the post, nor did they seem to mind "mental health problems" being in quotes, as if this wasn't really the case.
Please note that
the posts, some of which I have screengrabbed, are offensive and are a potential trigger.
If you still wish to look at the kind of hate that Pink News allows, look below:
Note that a woman who says how bad she feels now and expresses sympathy for the Nebraska woman gets 11 thumbs down. Nice tolerant people.
Also, being able to get up in front of a microphone is not evidence of being mentally well.
The usual Pink News bashing of anyone who is religious, whatever their views on homosexuality, is evident.
One person even calls for her not to be allowed to vote:
Scott Amunsdsen clearly has little knowledge of schizophrenia, but ploughs ahead anyway:
A few Pink News commentators, however, seemed to have a basic understanding of mental illness as well as some basic decency:
Might I suggest that the staff of Pink News, as well as visitors to their website, buy this booklet from Mind on understanding
schizophrenia.
Perhaps Pink News should consider how a website which often has excellent reporting on homophobia is seemingly happy to reinforce stigma and discrimination against the mentally ill.
With thanks to
This Week in Mentalists for the link to Pink News' bigotry.
The last word goes to tifosibella from the
Something Awful Forums:
I don't know how you missed the point so hard, but here it is again. She is schizophrenic. I don't know how much experience you have with people with schizophrenia or who are experiencing dementia. When they are in the state of mind demonstrated by Jane Svoboda, they are not functioning the way they would normally in their right mind.
This means that they can feasibly behave in a manner completely opposed to what they actually believe. My great grandfather went out believing he was Satan despite having no real opinion on religion at all. My grandmother went out with an ugly hatred for my aunt's husband that came out of nowhere because her dementia manifested in believing that he was part of some alien conspiracy out to poison her drinking water.
No loving poo poo she heard that tripe somewhere, but when she's spewing it in amongst a mash of utter nonsense that likely only makes sense to her, people like you and me who don't know her from Adam can't objectively say that she's liberal, conservative, or anything.
Her family, on the other hand, probably can. And if they say she's not some crazy conservative, I'm okay with taking that at face value.
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