Letters to the Editor
leifgobo
Published Letters: 11
-
is it such a bitter pill?
[Read the article: New Jersey Supreme Court: State must allow same-sex unions]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]While I can't disagree with conclusion you draw about the GOP vis a vis the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling today, the fact that this is a positive step in the direction of civil rights for gay and lesbian Americans also bears mentioning. The defeatist, bitter tone you take in the face of this victory, single issue though it may be, verges on the appalling.
-
I'm baffled
[Read the article: Stating the obvious]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]is Mr. Keillor's aim to be deadpan, tongue firmly planted in cheek here? I would like to think so. Regardless, it falls flat. With all of the gay baiting the right has freely indulged in over the course of the current administration's reign, I find it a little too soon for the joke.
If it were simply Mr. Keillor bombing with an unfortunately timed column, I'd be willing to let it go. However, this, combined with Salon's embrace of Camille Paglia shows very poor judgment on the part of an editorial staff who already had a long way to go towards being inclusive of, if not sensitive to, gay and lesbian content and concerns.
I may stand alone in this regard, but if not, I urge readers who feel the same to write directly to Salon's editors and let them know that this is not acceptable from what is supposed to be a liberal and progressive publication.
-
let us feel sorry
[Read the article: How secure are you? ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Let us feel sorry for Larry Craig and all the other closeted gay men who can only touch another man in the accessible anonymity of a public restroom.
Let us also feel sorry for all of the gay men who live in areas of America where finding partners in public restrooms may be one of few options available to them.
But let us feel especially sorry for a woman who, at an age where she could have and should have been exploring all of her most erotic urges, was so repressed, pretentious and afraid of her own vagina, that the best she could do was Paris Match.
Okay, let’s not feel sorry for Larry Craig.
-
excellent, Salon
[Read the article: The gay voter's guide to the GOP]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm looking forward to the follow up where the Democrats are similarly analyzed to see which will be the most and least likely to pitch Lesbian and Gay voters under the bus.
-
opinion? less Times, more Salon
[Read the article: The nag, the witch and the media]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Maureen Dowd has little to say about our political landscape beyond the most glib, sophomoric observations. Why does her column appear in The Times twice a week, taking up space where journalism could go? Dowd's remarks about both Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama are consistently ridiculous and undignified. More reason to read Salon instead.
-
let gay young adults have a break
[Read the article: Dumbledore? Gay. J.K. Rowling? Chatty.]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ms. Traister has clearly grown up in a time and place in which children's literature contained a wealth of positive girl and women role models. And though she celebrates Rowlings multiculturalism, and even admits that the dominant hereronormative viewpoint precluded her from considering a gay character without an explicit outing in text, she is still bitter about it.
I appreciate that Ms. Traister has high standards regarding the behavior of authors. This is much to her credit as a professional writer. It is a shame, though, that her lofty ideals have blinded her to the thing that really matters here. Rowling has given the world a positive gay role model in children's literature. Perhaps she broke the rules in proclaiming it after the fact, but that is exactly the same thing gay and lesbian people have to do with their hetero-entitled friends and family every day: announce it explicitly when it should have been obvious to anyone looking beyond the heteronormative paradigm all along.
-
some points of clarification for Democrats who are not GLBT
[Read the article: Is Obama really standing up for gay rights?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]let me take a moment to offer one gay man's viewpoint on the politics of same sex marriage.
- the call for same sex marriage was unheard by anyone outside of the LGBT community before Karl Rove used it as a wedge issue, and had he not, it is likely that the issue would still be barely making a ripple in state government let alone the federal government.
- it is extremely short-sighted for readers like dataguyx to blame the GLBT community for what happened in 2004. I believe that the issue of same sex marriage definitely had an impact on that election, but the blame for that lies entirely with Rove and co., as much as any other single-issue scare tactic they employed to sway voters
- please listen up: GAY MARRIAGE IS IN GENERAL NOT THE PRIORITY AMONG DEMOCRATIC GAY AND LESBIAN VOTERS. Most Democratic GLBT voters are far from single-issue voters anyway. for most of us, the top priorities in this election are more or less in line with every other Democrat: Iraq, healthcare, the economy etc. But because we are Democrats and GLBT, we are also concerned about issues that relate directly to us.
- generally speaking, the number one GLBT issue for GLBT Democrats is the Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) and not as much same sex marriage
Frankly, the GLBT community could be making more noise about our direct political issues, but the fact of the matter is that we are doing out best to spread our action and anxiety across all of our issues as American citizens, not just GLBT issues.
However, anyone ridiculous enough to tell any American tax paying citizen who does not receive equal rights under the law to "sit down and shut up" would do well to take his own advice.
To respond to the face value of Koppelman's question, no, I don't think Obama is standing up for gay rights per se, but I do feel that he makes it clear that his broader plans for working change in America is inclusive of gay rights.
Clinton is a strong candidate, and should she win the nomination, I will be behind her 100%. But I have to say, as a gay voter, when it comes specifically to GLBT issues, I already know to expect betrayal from the Clintons.
-
Mr. Keillor
[Read the article: Playing soldier]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]you're as pompous a gas bag as Paglia or Coulter.