I have taken down my social media posts and do not plan to make further public comments. I want the following to stand as the record of my views:

I know the Spy’s publisher, Dave Wheelan, and indeed have always liked and respected him. I know how hard he works, for no personal gain. I have supported the Spy, including financially via the center that I direct at Washington College. The Eastern Shore needs more outlets for journalism and community discussion and we cannot afford to lose this one. The only happiness I have felt through this whole sorry saga was when he took down the original piece and wrote an eloquent and indeed rather courageous statement. I felt proud of Dave. I thought I could return to supporting Dave and the Spy in every possible way.

And then, sadly, the Spy published a statement by the original writer, David Montgomery, that was just as cruel and gratuitous as the original column.

People who have read any of my comments should know that I am coming at this most deeply as someone who remembers being a closeted gay teenager in the 1980s. I remember reading in the mainstream press that homosexuals caused AIDS and should be tattooed and put in internment camps. (Yes, that was in the New York Times in 1986.) I remember reading that we were mentally ill, prone to molesting children, and unfit to be teachers. I remember reading articles equating our life partnerships with pedophilia and bestiality. I remember reading that my own country’s leaders in the Reagan Administration were endorsing that bigotry.

Now, in 2019, I thought those dark and painful days were over, at least in the mainstream press. Then, this week — reading a publication edited by someone I like and respect, in the town where I have worked and taught young people for 17 years — I found out I was wrong.

I remember how horrible I felt reading those things at age 14 or 15 … how dark and hopeless they made my future seem. And I was lucky: I came from a loving, secular, liberal family and went to a progressive urban private school that embraced diversity. I was gay, white, male, comfortably off, rather than trans, or black, or female, or rural, or poor. I was a well-read kid and I had access to more favorable depictions. I can only imagine how much worse the pain and isolation are for kids from those latter categories, in the more conservative (much, much more conservative) areas of a place like the Eastern Shore, in environments where they are at daily risk of psychological and physical abuse, where even their homes are no shelter from bigotry.

Even in the homophobic depths of the 1980s, I don’t recall ever reading that we queer kids were at risk of becoming mass murderers if allowed to fully embrace our sexuality.

That’s where I’m coming from: imagining the very real pain and trauma being inflicted by David Montgomery – and yes, by the Spy — on the most vulnerable members of our community.

Actually, not just imagining: also hearing it directly from a brave and eloquent young trans person from Kent County, who wrote: “You have to understand the power of words. It’s a privilege to curate the information shared with a community… and the privilege has been abused… and so have I. So many people that I speak to have never even met a trans person before so to generalize me and my community as ‘confused’ and ‘brainwashed’ is so harmful to so many. It’s deadly. I often speak of my intense fear for other people’s ideas of me. I’m remembering why this fear exists.”

I am in favor of listening respectfully to many voices, including conservative ones, pro-Trump ones, and even ones that oppose LGBTQ rights. But when you allow a well-off, well-educated, privileged person to use a public platform to punch down and attack transgender teenagers — who are among the most vulnerable human beings in our community — that is beyond the pale. It can result in those kids being harmed physically and psychologically by others, or even harming themselves.

Speech is a right, but publication is a privilege, and publishers are not compelled to disseminate any opinion submitted to them. I worked as an op-ed editor at the New York Times, and I can tell you that if one of its columnists tried to publish a piece like David Montgomery’s, he or she would quite rightly be fired from the paper.

I don’t want the Spy to die. I don’t want to hurt its thoughtful, smart, and dedicated publisher, who has given a lot to our community. I do want those brave and vulnerable queer kids among us to be safe. They are as important to our community as any publisher, columnist, or advertiser. Yes, even as important as David Montgomery with his fancy CV.

Words matter. Words hurt — especially when they are published words. The Spy needs to use them more wisely.

At 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning my wife brewed coffee and suggested we enjoy it on our porch looking onto Island Creek.  It was a beautiful morning. The birds were chirping and the gentle breeze could be heard from the trees. Then, across the creek, a leaf blower was fired up.  For the next half hour—until we finally gave up trying to enjoy the morning—some sort of yard clean-up was executed.

Unfortunately, our disrupted Saturday coffee was not a rare occurrence.  In season, from late March until early November, the sound of lawn tractors, chain saws, hedge trimmers, and, worst of all, leaf blowers can be heard, usually from the crack of dawn until shortly after sunset. The noise produced is, some tell me, unavoidable. The alternative, some claim, is foot-high grass, uncontrollable weeds, and “jungle.”  

Are these claims right?  I don’t think so. Lawn and garden maintenance doesn’t have to mean deafening and/or irritating noise. Could there be alternatives that might make our community more pleasant, more livable, and more attractive?  The answer is yes.

Did you know that Washington, D.C. has banned gas-powered leaf blowers, effective January 1, 2022?  There are more than 100 communities that have already banned leaf blowers, including cities in Florida, California, Texas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and others.  Some entire countries in Europe have also banned them. Why shouldn’t we join this movement?

In addition to the simple pleasure of quiet, there are other more compelling, economic and health reasons for banning  leaf blowers and exploring alternatives to the whole array of hyper-polluting, noisy lawn tools. First, is the impact of the devices on our hearing. The Center for Disease Control estimates that leaf blowers produce at least 90 decibels of noise. This can cause permanent hearing loss with only two hours of exposure. Second, is pollution.   A two-stroke commercial leaf blower produces more pollution than a Ford F-150 pick-up truck driven more 3,800 miles. Third is cancer. The EPA has suggested that the emissions from gas-powered lawn tools are carcinogenic.

The time is now for governments at all levels to start crafting relief from the racket and poison produced by these devices. The following are a few starting points:

Local governments should purchase and use battery-powered, quiet lawn tools.

Dates should be set for a blanket ban on offending machines—the date can be set far enough in the future to permit the existing equipment used by contractors and homeowners to wear out.

Restrictions should be placed on the hours noise and pollution producing machines can be used.  Any mowing and leaf blowing before, say, 8:00 a.m. and after 7 p.m. should be banned. And why not consider freeing up one day altogether from noise—Sunday?

Access to information about “approved devices” should be posted widely as a means of encouraging all of us to convert to cleaner, quieter and healthier machines as soon as possible.

The eastern shore is already a great place to live. Why not make it better?    

I welcome readers’ reactions to these proposals—both agreement and disagreement. I hope you will leave a comment and share your views.  Thanks and here’s to a quiet and peaceful morning.

J.E. Dean of Oxford, writes on policy and politics based on more than 30 years working with non-profits and others interested in domestic policy. He is an advocate for the environment, civil public debate, and good government.