HOME > VIEWPOINT > LETTERS
COMMENTS
 
To the Editors:
Re “Linking HIV and the ‘DL’” (The Point, Aug. 27):
It is not important whether scientific information backs the claims about the
down low, or “DL.” What is important is how these shaky lifestyles
mix sex with lies and ruin lives.
Even if we agree that author J.L. King is generalizing, at least he is brave
enough to help bring the matter to the forefront. The critics have forgotten
that knowledge is power and at least the exposed information can shed some light
on why black women are increasingly contracting HIV.
Point being, there is always a high risk of anyone contracting HIV/AIDS when
having unprotected sex, regardless of lifestyle or marital status.
Washington
To the Editors:
The stories in last week’s Blade about David Catania (“Catania quits
GOP to become an independent”) and Carol Schwartz (“Schwartz won’t
budge on marriage”) show that the former is a profile in courage and the
other a profile in curiosity.
I do not accept that Carol Schwartz cannot say openly and unequivocally that
she supports gay marriage. I do not accept her explanation that supporting gay
marriage would do more “harm” than good.
I have sat in many living rooms of gay couples where Carol glad-handed with
one hand and took checks with the other. Yes, she has supported gay rights in
the past, but I do not feel compelled to thank her for doing what was right
in the first place.
I see now that her support was qualified because she was telling those couples
who hosted her that she believes they are entitled to “all the rights
and responsibilities” that heterosexual couples receive, but not marriage.
How dare you, Carol?
I attended the Human Rights Campaign marriage rally in March. There I lost
respect for Carol Schwartz and found respect for David Catania.
There are seminal moments in all of our lives when we must take stands on issues
we consider fundamental. David Catania believes in the basic tenets of the Republican
Party but made a difficult and painful decision.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Courage is acting in the face of fear.”
David Catania faced that fear and acted.
The time has come for gay people to cease being satisfied with peanuts proffered
by those we reward with our support. Those peanuts are no more palatable coming
from a donkey than they are from an elephant.
They are especially not palatable coming from an elephant acting like a donkey.
Washington
To the Editors:
After reading Jimmy Swaggart’s most recent homophobic comments, as reported
in the Washington Blade (news, Sept. 24), I have concluded that he and his ilk
are terrorists.
Swaggart and the other “Christian” fundamentalists who share his
philosophy are the same as the Islamic fundamentalists: Both seek to impose
their beliefs on everyone else. If one group is terrorists, so must the other
group be terrorists.
To the best of my knowledge, the only difference is that to date Swaggart has
only talked about killing people, whereas the Islamic fundamentalists have actually
carried out their threats.
Washington
To the Editors:
Re “Pro-gay blacks a ‘disgrace’ to civil rights movement?”
(news, Sept. 10):
Sure it was easier to discriminate against blacks because of their visibility,
but it’s our lack of visibility and our ability to “pass”
that makes anti-gay discrimination even more insidious in some ways than the
blatant hatred visited on people of color.
In fact, it was that blatant hatred directed toward other minorities and toward
us when became visible that has coerced so many of us homosexuals to collude
with our oppressors and remain invisible.
Today it is visibility that helps both blacks and gays to overcome discrimination
but on that score, blacks have it easier.
I constantly have to tell people I’m gay. An African American just has
to show up.
South Palm Beach, Fla.
| 
