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Support for Alien Abductees, Bug Lovers

Advocacy and Support for Alien Abductees, Kinky Sex Fans, Bug Lovers

By Buck Wolf

March 11, 2003 --  I'd like to publicly apologize to the trailer park residents I offended when I reported a few months ago on a new breed of ghosts who reportedly haunt mobile homes.

In a Halloween installment of The Wolf Files, I wrote of hauntings reported on the Trailerghost.com Web site: "Is there an unnatural feeling of unrest in your doublewide? Does the simulated-wood paneling sometimes sweat blood … even when you're not drinking malt liquor?

"When a real tear streams down the face of your velvet portrait of Elvis and his eyes start to move, your trailer might be haunted — and not by regular ghosts," I wrote. The site, started by mobile homeowner Larry Weaver, began in jest. But he subsequently found scads of RV-ers who reported what they called "redneck apparitions."

I don't take ghost sightings too seriously, and I never meant anything more than some trick-or-treat fun. Still, dozens of e-mailers called my report degrading and offensive.

"I am launching a campaign at Columbia Law School, where I am a student, to bring to light your article and other representations in the media that are similarly bigoted and hateful," wrote one person, who said he spent part of his childhood in a trailer park.

Let me apologize. For the record, my parents own a large trailer that features a jungle cat mural on the back end. I certainly wouldn't describe them as drunks or rednecks. Respect for Pistol Packin’ Mamas

Nobody likes to be stereotyped. The good news is that these days, no matter who you are or what you do, you've got a support group on the Internet or political action committee in Washington. You're not alone, and somewhere, there's a demand-laden petition expressing outrage to prove it.

Gun lovers, of course, have the National Rifle Association. But if you're a gun-toting homosexual, you can turn to Pink Pistols — a group with chapters in 20 states — for support. "Armed gays don't get bashed," the group's Web site claims. One Pink Pistols motto: "Pick on someone your own caliber."

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