The commentary below is written by Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld, Associate Professor of Multicultural and International Curriculum Studies at Iowa State University. He is co-editor of "Readings for Diversity and Social Justice and Investigating Christian Privilege and Religious Oppression in the United States."

Clint McCance, the vice president of the Midland School District in Arkansas, commenting on his Facebook page about the nationwide movement for people to wear purple in commemoration of the spate of gay youth suicides over the past few months wrote that he wanted gay people to commit suicide (via):

“Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers committed suicide. The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide….We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed therselves because of their sin. REALLY PEOPLE….[B]eing a fag doesn't give you the right o ruin the rest of our lives. It you get easily offended by being caleld a fag then don't tell anyone you are a fag. Keep that shit to yourself. I don't care how people decide to live their lives. They don't bother me if they keep it thereselves. It pisses me off though that we make special purple fag day for them. I like that fags can't procreate. I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other AIDS and die.If you aren't against it, you might as well be for it.”

It’s almost unfathomable to me that anyone would have the chutzpa to express such an utterly heartless and inflammatory diatribe in the wake of such a tragedy. Rather than responding directly to McCance’s venom, I cannot help but think about something Frederick Douglass, famed abolitionist who escaped from slavery, once said when he described the dehumanizing effects of slavery not on slaves alone, but also on white slave owners whose position to slavery corrupted their humanity. While the social conditions of Douglass's time were very different from today, nonetheless, I believe Douglass's words hold meaning by analogy: “No [person] can put a chain about the ankle of [another person] without at last finding the other end fastened about his [or her] own neck.”

Though I cannot know McCance’s motives, I believe his words are misguided and uninformed and, therefore, eventually his words will backfire and the chain will take hold of him.

In truth, heterosexism (prejudice and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender [LGBT] people) is pervasive throughout our society and each of us, irrespective of sexual or gender identity and expression, is at risk of its harmful effects.

First, heterosexist conditioning compromises the integrity of people by pressuring them to treat others badly, which are actions contrary to their basic humanity. It inhibits one's ability to form close, intimate relationships with members of one's own sex, generally restricts communication with a significant portion of the population and, more specifically, limits family relationships.

Heterosexism locks all people into rigid gender-based roles, which inhibits creativity and self expression. It often is used to stigmatize, silence, and, on occasion, target people who are perceived or defined by others as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, but who are, in actuality, heterosexual.

In addition, heterosexism is one cause of premature sexual involvement, which increases the chances of teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Young people, of all sexual identities, are often pressured to become heterosexually active to prove to themselves and others that they are "normal."

Societal heterosexism prevents some LGBT people from developing an authentic self identity, and adds to the pressure to marry someone of the other sex, which in turn places undue stress and oftentimes trauma on themselves as well as their heterosexual spouses and their children.

Heterosexism combined with sexphobia (fear and revulsion of sex) results in the elimination of discussion of the lives and sexuality of LGBT people as part of school-based sex education, keeping vital information from all students. Such a lack of information can kill people in the age of AIDS. And heterosexism (along with racism, sexism, classism, sexphobia) inhibits a unified and effective governmental and societal response to the AIDS pandemic.

With all of the truly important issues facing the world, heterosexism diverts energy and attention from more constructive endeavors. It also prevents heterosexuals from accepting the benefits and gifts offered by LGBT people, including theoretical insights, social and spiritual visions and options, contributions in the arts and culture, to religion, to education, to family life, indeed, to all facets of society. Ultimately, it inhibits appreciation of other types of diversity, making it unsafe for everyone because each person has unique traits not considered mainstream or dominant. Therefore, we are all diminished when any one of us is demeaned.

The meaning is quite clear. When any group of people is scapegoated, it is ultimately everyone's concern. For today, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are targeted. Tomorrow, they may come for you. Everyone, therefore, has a self interest in actively working to dismantle all the many forms of bigotry, including heterosexism.

I believe that we are all born into an environment polluted by heterosexism (one among many forms of oppression), which falls upon us like acid rain. For some people, spirits are tarnished to the core, others are marred on the surface, and no one is completely protected. Therefore, we all have a responsibility, indeed an opportunity, to join together as allies to construct protective shelters from the corrosive effects of bigotry while working to clean up the heterosexist environment in which we live. Once sufficient steps are taken to reduce this pollution, we will all breathe a lot easier.