Every now and then, a homophobe sees the error of his ways:
Larry Miller, the Utah theater owner who pulled Brokeback Mountain from his theaters last January, met with about 30 gay and lesbian students at the University of Utah who enlightened him about what it’s like to be gay. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, students told Miller about the difficulties of coming out and the fear of being physically harmed. The discussion appeared to change Miller’s previously unwavering stance on his decision to pull the movie.
Said Miller: “Now, I understand how something I said inadvertently made them feel demeaned as individuals. Maybe their well-being trumps my beliefs, my rights to express myself…In 2006, it’s wrong that they have to live in that fear.”
We’ll give Larry a pass on the fact that he expressed his homophobic views deliberately, not “inadvertently,” but can’t resist pointing out that in addition to the cineplex, Miller also owns a huge car dealership in Stalt Lake City as well as part of the Utah Jazz basketball team, which makes his change of heart illustrative of the fact that bigots who make their fortunes from consumer-oriented services are the most vulnerable to being flipped.
