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Letters to the Editor

Published Thursday, 02-Oct-2008 in issue 1084

“Use of such terms as statements of derision is never, NEVER acceptable. Not in general use. Not in the straight press. And most certainly not in a publication claiming to advocate for LGBT equality.”

Dear Editor:

In your August 21 editorial, “Logging on, getting off, funding discrimination,” you stated, “We’ve turned a critical eye toward outsiders and allies ... It would be shortsighted and hypocritical to expect less from businesses that market specifically toward GLBT people, and leaders within our community.”

Far be it from me to be shortsighted or hypocritical.

Although your commentary focused on support of Gay marriage, there are other issues for which GLBT people, leaders in our community, outsiders, and allies should be held accountable. Among these is the use of anti-Gay slurs and homophobic insults.

Several times in recent editorials, the Gay & Lesbian Times has used anti-Gay epithets to criticize people with whom it disagreed. You described the organizers of Southern Decadence as “silly queens” in your September 4 editorial, and in your September 25 editorial, you called the firemen claiming to have been traumatized through participation in the Pride parade “sissies.”

Internalized homophobia much?

Use of such terms as statements of derision is never, NEVER acceptable. Not in general use. Not in the straight press. And most certainly not in a publication claiming to advocate for LGBT equality.

Quite aside from the question of why the GLT feels compelled to engage in irrational ad hominem name calling of any sort in its editorials, its use of this emasculatory homophobic verbiage reveals a deep self-hatred and, as the words used intend to diminish their targets by feminizing them, an abiding misogyny by the editors and publisher of the GLT.

Michael Portantino and the GLT editors owe apologies to the targets of these epithets, to San Diego’s LGBT community, and to women in general for their propagation of misogyny and use of homophobic language. They should further undergo awareness training to discover and resolve their personal prejudices against both women and Gays.

It would be hypocritical and shortsighted for them not to.

Rev Keith W Ramsey

http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=13141

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The Gay & Lesbian Times welcomes comments from all readers. Letters to the editor longer than 500 words will not be accepted. Send e-mail to editor@uptownpub.com; fax (619) 299-3430; or mail to PO Box 34624, San Diego, CA 92163. To be printed, letters must include the writer’s name, address and daytime phone number for verification.

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