Letters to the Editor
royrapoport
Published Letters: 32 Editor's Choice: 7
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Won't You Think About The Children?
[Read the article: Polygamy loves company]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yeah, polygamy proponents are attaching to gay marriage. And they should.
Look, I've seen black people claim "well, sure you shouldn't discriminate against me on the basis of my skin color, but gay people? that's different." It's a damn shame we're looking at falling into the same trap.
There's nothing special about gay marriages -- and there's nothing special about polyamorous marriages (whether polygamous or polyandrous) -- that should require governmental interference and prohibition. Do some polygamous communities require children to get married? They sure do. And we already have laws in the books to deal with this, so it's a red herring in this context.
Love is a good thing. People in stable relationships are a good thing. Children growing up in environments where they are cared for and loved is a good thing. So ... what's the issue?
I have to admit I find it really abhorrant that we seem to be miserly in our allocation of civil rights. "OK, _I_ want to get married, but those weird people over there? Fuck'em."
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What the ...
[Read the article: The political score card]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As a pretty die-hard Dean democrat, I have to admit I find the idea of an elected official punching a peace officer outrageous and offensive. If she is in fact guilty, I'd hope they'd throw the book at her.
How could you possibly describe an investigation into whether or not this incident occured as petty?
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I Support the Petition
[Read the article: Say it, sister: "I had an abortion"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm saddened, a little, that I can't sign it, though, seeing as how I'm vaginally-deficient. I'm not complaining -- It's perfectly alright for Ms. Magazine to make the petition women-only -- but I wish there was something equally public that men could do (because I'm pretty sure that me wearing "I had an abortion" t-shirt would ... not be very appropriate).
-roy
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Paltrow is reprehensible and negligent
[Read the article: Hey, birth's gotta hurt, too]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Her refusal to acknowledge pain once the birth is complete shows her to be one of those people who are so focused on the intra-womb fetus as to be completely ignorant of, and uncaring about, unborn children who've taken the next step into the world.
Letting women know the pain they will subject their children to by having an abortion is clearly a common-sense approach, as is adding to it, as Paltrow suggests, by informing them about the pain they will subject their children to by giving them birth.
It is CRITICAL, however, that we not stop there. I know I'm not the only unborn child who has experienced the world beyond the womb as a fundamentally hostile and painful one. I skinned my knee many times. Yesterday, a kitten attempted to climb me, and I've got the gashes to prove it. I've got many scars from my childhood. I was beaten by my school mates, I was broken up with by my lovers, and I've had to pay taxes for all of my adulthood.
My mother was left in the dark about all these dangers. Nobody told her I'd have to deal with this crap. And people like Paltrow would choose to keep our mothers' eyes veiled, would choose to keep them ignorant and unaware.
Clearly, we need a bill that doesn't just deal with unborn children IN the womb and exiting it, but deal with them more holistically, and acknowledge the full life cycle of an unborn child, from being in the womb, to exiting it, to living outside the womb for many years, to death. Paltrow doesn't go far enough. Not nearly far enough.
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Non-discrimination Policies
[Read the article: Building a gay-friendly workplace]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's worth noting that a nondisc policy is not necessarily the only hallmark of a tolerant workplace. The company where I work, for example, has no non-discrimination policy. It, in fact, has no policy at all (the employee handbook is, allegedly, going to be created. Soon. Really.)
Do gay people get discriminated against in my company? Well, not exactly. It's no longer as it was when I joined, when our entire IT group was made up of gay men (for a while, the joke was that being into men was a requirement to join IT), but we have so many queers here in positions critical to the company's success that it's pretty unimaginable that anyone would think they can be discriminated against.
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Boys vs. Men
[Read the article: Open the closets on Capitol Hill]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In this whole discussion about whether Foley was attracted to boys or young men, whether he's gay or a pedophile, it's probably worth noting that in Washington DC (where the majority of his actions presumably took place), the age of consent is 16. And pages, if I remember correctly, must be at least 16 years old (one may be forgiven for cynically wondering if congresspeople wanted to make sure they'd never be vulnerable to statutory rape charges).
In other words, even if Foley had sex with a page, that action by itself was not illegal, and would not be classified as a pedophile act, it seems.
I'm not excusing it, mind you -- there's still a huge power imbalance between a congressperson and a page, and it sure seems like his attentions were unwanted by the page -- but "attracted to boys" is so far something we don't seem to have much evidence for.
-roy