Hate is Unmistakeable

Do you ever feel like the bad guys have won?
That's how I feel today after reading Kev Leitch's farewell message, and witnessing the closure of his blog, Left Brain/Right Brain.

Kev's reasons are his own, and for no one to question. He is acting in the way that he feels necessary to protect his family, and I support him 100% in that.

Kev's daughter has been the target of impersonation and dehumanizing insults by John Best for quite some time now. John is the despicable person who writes the Hating Autism blog. His derogatory writing too often crosses ethical and moral boundaries that are easily recognized and avoided by more decent people. Over the last three days, John has committed himself to a campaign of hate against Kev and His daughter that is unprecedented in its depravity, and Kev has reacted accordingly.

Many, many people like me have directly benefitted from Kev's work in establishing a central point for autism blogging, many of whom are autistic bloggers who were able to benefit from the Hub's high traffic to get a message out to the world that Autism is not necessarily what it has been thought to be. That autistic folks are whole persons, people deserving of our respect and admiration for abilities and attitudes that were dismissed, ignored, or overlooked by most professionals until recently.

I hope Kev will still contribute his voice and efforts in other ways - ways that will provide some insulation between his family and those who would do them harm through words or deeds.
I hope the autism community realizes that we are diminishing ourselves if we let the outrageous actions of the offending person go without condemnation and censure.
I hope we can organize ourselves to continue the Autism Hub, so that there is always a place for Autistic bloggers and their allies to gather and share ideas.
I hope that Kev knows how much I and so many others appreciate his efforts over the years. And I hope that my Autistic son grows up in a world full of people like Kev Leitch, and bereft of haters like John Best. I will keep blogging to do my part to see these things happen.
And if anything occurs that causes Kev to reconsider, I will be the first in line to welcome him back.