When the Republicans unleashed pit bulls Pat Buchanan and Pat Robertson on the American public last summer, many were shocked at the level of intolerance presumed to be acceptable in public discourse. Back-pedaling in the face of widespread revulsion, the Republicans rapidly distanced themselves from the rhetoric of hate.

Not quickly enough for some of us: by then, both former President Bush and former Vice President Quayle had already relegated a sizeable minority of Americans -- lesbians, gay men, and bisexual women and men -- to the realm of the Unnatural Other. Most lesbians and gay men were only surprised by the sheer amount of public hate at the convention, since they are fully aware of the devaluing they experience in American society.

Yet, the audacity of a president and a vice president using the political and moral authority of their offices to perpetuate stereotypes and stoke the rising firestorm of hate crimes directed toward this group was still shocking. Bush's and Quayle's efforts to speak the language of the homophobics backfired, and now we have a president who can utter the "g" and "l" words with respect, not contempt.

Living as a lesbian or a gay man in our community and our society in 1993 produces complex feelings. The invisibility of lesbians and gay men has always produced considerable security -- from a wide variety of humiliating affronts ranging from religious to physical assault. One can depersonalize one's conversations at work, deleting any references to a life partner, and avoid shunning. One can walk the streets and not be beaten up as long as you "act straight." One can read bigots like columnist Cal Thomas in the "community" newspaper. One can watch as some local ministers dedicate themselves to relentless bigotry, attacking lesbians and gay men with accusations of bestiality. You can be silently enraged when a self-appointed local "opinion leader" calls the mayor of your town "The Pied Piper of Sodomy." You absorb all of this from the privacy of your closet, unless you have been foolhardy enough to tell others about yourself. If you have, the risks escalate considerably.

Hatred exacts its due, from all of us. The most obvious victims are those who assert their self worth by refusing to hide, refusing to perpetuate the denial of their existence. The young woman, worn down by lying, who tells her family that her dating partner is another woman. The mother of a gay man who confronts a priest after he rails against "the homosexual lifestyle," as if there are no lesbians or gay men or their families listening. The student who objects to a chemistry professor's comment that "certain elements are just like bisexuals -- they go both ways." The tenant who risks eviction by refusing to remove gay civil-rights posters from her wall because the landlord is coming to check a plumbing problem. The student who tells ROTC he is gay because he wants to "be himself," and deprives himself of a career of military service. The athlete who leaves the team because he knows all too well that he will endure a living hell because his coach has never once confronted the endless "fag" and "dyke" comments.

There are other costs as well, even to the victimizer. The pastor's words prevent him from personal knowledge of lesbian/gay congregation members, most of whom flee the venom. The supervisor hurling Biblical misinterpretations distances herself from many people, including baffled heterosexual co-workers. The employer who makes a casual homophobic remark plants the seed for developing an angry employee without commitment to the job. The faculty member becomes widely known as a bigot and many students withdraw. Some find the newpaper's continual running of a bigot's column deeply offensive and question the integrity of the editors. The coach deprives everyone of a top athlete.

Some -- most often the victimizers themselves -- have argued that people with homophobic or heterosexist ideas and those who parlay them into organized campaigns are also victims, but my sympathy does not extend this far. I see no victimization of a person who is labeled a bigot because she insists that only heterosexual married love is worthy of God's respect. I see no victimization of a landlord who, while profiting from the free enterprise system, insists that he won't rent to "those kinds of people." I surely don't sympathize with the thousands of assailants whose prison terms have been lessened because their victims were lesbians or gay men. And, I have no compassion for those who say that Christianity (or any other faith) insists that they be intolerant of another person, ridicule that person in contemptible ways and deprive that person of basic civil rights. One can indulge in whatever bigotries and prejudices one chooses at home, but in a civil society, there are some fundamental rules of personal respect and dignity.

As public discussion continues on the inclusion of persons in different sexual orientations into all aspects of society (they are there already, of course, so this simply means the end of dishonesty), we will surely see more bigotry and hate. Shrouded in religious misinterpretations or embedded in celebrations of tradition, hate is hate. Mean-spiritedness shows itself in demonizing, and surely we have seen the absurd portrayals of gay people as sexual outlaws both locally and at the national level. This is embarrassing enough when religious leaders engage in it -- some talk more about sex than any gay person I've ever met. It is chilling when the Joint Chiefs of Staff engage in lurid fantasies of group rape in showers. This hate cannot be so readily buried in these distracting arguments. Thus, although there will be more of the same, the barrage of dehumanization does serve a crucial educational purpose in that it demonstrates to all reasonable people how intolerant, irrational and irresponsible others can be, particularly when their leaders speak to their fears and prejudices.

While I feel battered by the endless attacks from the "true believers," such that I would sometimes prefer never to read a newspaper again, I know that it is useful for the many allies of lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people to begin to appreciate the struggle. Hidden from society, lesbians and gay men have spared themselves the pains of hurt, homophobia and harassment. They have also spared friends, co-workers, acquaintances and family the pains of dealing with others' intolerance, hatred and violence. Local and national discussions about sexual orientation will continue to drag this hatred into the spotlight where at last it can be seen. This "outing" of bigotry, hatred and violence will be slowly pulled apart from its religious and secular veneers. Many will be startled, aghast at what they see. For lesbians and gay men, nothing is new except that we now have a president who refuses to be a bigot. And, in State College, we are fortunate to have a major who will not be intimidated.