What It Feels Like - Newsflash: A white, heterosexual Christian male has been subjected to harrassment and intentional discrimination. The U.S. Education Department's Office of Civil Rights, in a decision that has the bigot brigrade crowing with delight, ruled this week that U.N.C. professor Elyse Crystall violated a homophobic student's civil rights by circulating a harshly worded rebuke to the class.

The right-wing WashTimes has the backstory. It seems the prof held a classroom session on "whether heterosexual men felt 'threatened' by homosexual men." Timothy Mertes -- an older non-traditional student -- spoke up, saying that "'threatened' was the wrong word to use:" According to a complaint letter,

Mr. Mertes cited the example of "a friend in California who is a Christian and who was propositioned by a gay man. He got a love letter from this man, and he felt dirty and disgusted, not threatened." Mr. Mertes told the class "that, as a Christian, he felt the same way," the letter said. "He would not want to have to explain to his 6-year-old why two men are kissing at a ballgame. [Mr. Mertes] ended his remarks in the classroom by saying that the only way to regard this activity as a 'threat' is that homosexuality could be a threat to life, e.g., reproduction or procreation."

The teacher didn't react during class time, but later posted a message on the seminar's Blackboard portal calling Mertes "a perfect example of privilege" and his comments "completely unacceptable 'hate speech.'" Although the professor later apologized, and Mertes himself says events were "blown way out of proportion," the case became prime fodder for conservative talk radio. Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) even stuck his nose into it, pushing the OCR to respond. Now that they've ruled, let's all thank God that the Bush D.O.E. is protecting helpless bigots from the unchecked power of university professors, and remember, if Kerry gets elected, the Bible will be banned!