OPINION:
Should zoos allow people of all political persuasions to enter their grounds, work as employees, volunteer and do scientific research at their institutions? One would hope so, but apparently numerous staff at Zoo New England think otherwise.
I applied to do legitimate scientific research with the Kea parrots there, doing a cognition study that had never been done before, testing the birds’ cognitive abilities. At first, the zoo staff seemed excited about my research. Then the excitement died down and they stopped replying to my emails.
I learned later from a former employee the real reason they denied my scientific research proposal: I held too conservative and/or religious views for their liking, one at odds with the modern liberal view of morality. Apparently, a disproportionate segment of the bird staff is gay or LGBTQ, and although I never mentioned it, they discovered that I had written some academic works on the traditional view of sexuality.
This was, evidently, enough to exile me.
It seems it is not enough for conservatives to be friendly enough to work with gays/LGBTQ people (even if they don’t know). You have to agree with their woke moral views too. Apparently, conservatives have to be accommodating to these people, but not the other way around.
Isn’t it time we had anti-discrimination laws protecting conservatives from such outright blatant discrimination? Or is legitimate scientific research allowed only if you are a liberal?
JOHN SKALKO
Brighton, Massachusetts
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