THE EDITOR, Sir:
WE KNEW Peter Espeut, first as a Gleaner columnist, later as a personal friend.
We have to say that Peter Espeut in his column in The Gleaner of November 12, wrote from ignorance and even, most uncharacteristically, some malice. We seems to regard homosexuality as being, at best, a mental and spiritual illness, at worst, a willingly espoused personal vice.
We write from our own personal knowledge gained in our own family. Of our six children, obviously brought up in the same family setting, one was a homosexual. We treated our children as responsible humans, and no subject was ever taboo.
As a teenager, Frank told us that he had known when he was five that he was different. He formed easy friendships with girls, as his sisters did. He knew that his feeling for other boys was sexual like the feelings of his "straight" siblings for the opposite sex. His siblings all accepted his orientation, often with regret, never with condemnation.
Frank died of AIDS at the age of 41. He was warm, amiable and witty and was loved by friends of all kinds. We hope Peter Espeut will understand the strong feelings that led us to write this letter.
We are, etc.,
ELLEN and JOHN SEARS
Hope Road
Kingston 6
