Letter: SARC event the right cause, but wrong speaker
On Aug. 22, Michael Reagan will be in Richland, speaking at the “Sex Trafficking: Local Awareness” event benefiting the Support, Advocacy and Resource Center.
It is essential that we as a community continue to shed light on this issue, and SARC certainly can use the financial support. That being said, it is entirely inappropriate for Reagan to have been selected to speak at an event of this nature considering his history of making discriminatory comments related to sexuality and gender equality.
In April 2013, on the subject of gay marriage, Reagan commented: “There is also a very slippery slope leading to other alternative relationships … polygamy, bestiality, and perhaps even murder.”
In April 2017, when Bill O’Reilly was terminated from Fox News due to sexual harassment, Reagan fired off several tweets defending O’Reilly, including: “If women are going to wear low cut dresses that show cleavage don’t be harassed when we men look. Or should we sue for sexual arousal?”
It is disappointing that this event will promote an individual who has insulted and demeaned women and LGBT people, considering that these populations make up the vast majority of individuals receiving services from the organization the event will benefit.
Travis Rybarski, Richland
This story was originally published August 17, 2017 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Letter: SARC event the right cause, but wrong speaker."