The Gist

Death of a Monster

Watching the media coverage of Jerry Falwell's death is pretty nauseating. He is largely being portrayed as a man who inspired many and generally did good in the world (helping to "mobilize" religious zealots into the political world, as if that is a good thing), but said some "controversial" things that bothered sensitive minorities. Much of the media is bending over backwards trying to placate his followers. I don't really buy the "don't speak ill of the dead" argument, not with 24-hour news cycles that throw out pre-fabricated obituaries and are done with the story by the end of the cycle. And no, I don't have any sympathy for his family nor care about respecting them: They didn't respect me, nor the many others who lost loved ones to AIDS, suicide or gay-bashing, enough to stand up and speak out against their monster of a relative.

Let's never forget that this man is directly responsible for the deaths of thousands due to AIDS because of the stranglehold he and his "mobilized" Christians had on our government as the health crisis emerged in the 80s within the gay community. The grotesque negligence of the Reagan administration was dictated by Jerry Falwell, who would then go on to hatch many dozens of little Falwells over the past several decades who inspire the hatred against gays -- and the violent gay-bashing and teen suicides -- that we still live with today. He was a bigot and a hatemonger. That is the story the media should be reporting, not as a "debatable" issue, but as a brutal fact.