Dear Editor:

Is it time to give CAMP a break?

With everything going, with the world changing all around us and new opportunities before us, perhaps it is time to consider who we are (as a gay community) and what we’ve become. Because it is easy to say, “those people don’t understand us, can’t they see who we really are?” when we are casting stones in their direction. But, don’t we have any responsibility to present ourselves in a truer light? Are we still the old queens of yesteryear? Are we still repressed and latent homosexuals cruising in parks for a quick trick? Or are we for the most part just like everybody else, going to work and paying the rent and watching Superbowl on TV?

I guess it was when I was watching the Superbowl at an old-fashioned gay bar, with an oversized flower arrangement front and center, that this thought first crossed my mind. I was sort of annoyed when some older gentleman had to make an off color remark about the “tight-end”. I thought, when will we ever move beyond the tight-end jokes. Why is there always a tight-end joke? And then I chided myself, because this is the place gay people are supposed to come to flame (that is act-out in a way that would be un-welcomed in a straight establishment). I wanted to say out loud, “Oh, Honey Please! Give it a rest.” But in doing so I would only be perpetuating the stereotype. Perpetuating the stereotype, now I am onto the gist of what I am talking about.

Perpetuating the stereotype. I guess there is a certain comfort in sharing in the preservation of this gay-inspired tradition. Camp is a highly honed skill and some do it much better than others. I suspect there was a need for it in the old days, a sort of “we’re all in this together, so we may as well be REALLY gay”. But I think this device has served its purpose and is ready for the scrap-piles of history. Don’t get me wrong. I am not proposing everybody needs to “act-straight”, but equally I don’t think everybody needs to “act gay” either. Can’t we finally just be who we are, without the false drama… Without all the “Oh Girl, Oh Honey, Please!” stuff? Perhaps it’s time to give camp a break. Or perhaps not.

Timo Elliot

Dear Editor:

Oral arguments presented before the Supreme Court regarding the constitutional fortitude of Proposition 8, Kenneth Starr and Chief Justice Ronald George bit into the very meat of the power of the constitution and the power of the people to over ride their own or their neighbors inalienable rights.

Justice George: ‘Is the Constitution a living document?’

‘Yes’, said Mr. Starr.

Starr very calmly and eloquently argued the voters have an inalienable right to amend the constitution, including ‘things that tug at the equality principle’.

George pursued further asking if California voters could ‘remove the right to free speech’?

Starr says ‘yes’.

I was reminded of Lillian Hellman who stood up to and stymied the House of Un-American Activities including her famous statement ‘I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions...’.

It is a sad day for America when our inalienable right is defined by taking inalienable rights away.

Daniel Logan

Dear Editor:

It has come to my attention that the Islamic religion is being spread somewhat effectively in this country, and everywhere, and some Christians are now becoming Muslim. One reason is because gays feel unaccepted by the mainline Christian churches.

Something that I feel it is vitally important for all people to be aware of is that the Islamic religion has no tolerance whatsoever for gays, and in fact they kill them. And the person who kills them is considered a virtuous person who upholds the principles of Islam, and therefore is not even prosecuted. Yes, that is true, they get no punishment for it whatsoever. If this was generally known, Christians everywhere would not be converting to Islam.

The fact is, the reason we now have so many gay people is because of the high divorce rate. If parents kept their families together, the children would have a mother, and especially a father in the house, and with a strong male influence, so many boys would not become gay as they have today. The parents who married irresponsibly in the first place (many knew at the time they got married that the emotional commitment wasn’t strong enough to last, but married anyway, because it was convenient, or for other reasons.) are the ones who are responsible for their children’s homosexuality. So the greater sin was committed by the parents who got divorced, and not by the children who became gay.

We know that the Bible is against homosexuality, but it’s not one of the Ten Commandments. Not getting divorced (“What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder”) is in the Ten Commandments, but homosexuality is only mentioned in other parts of the Bible, which suggests that it is a lesser sin than getting divorced. By and large, gay people mind their own business. They are not criminals, not violent, and do no harm to other people in the community, they just quietly practice their own lifestyle. By contrast, parents who get divorced tear their spouse and their children apart emotionally. (I have heard some divorced people say that they consider divorce to be one-half as bad as murder). The children are never as whole, emotionally, and happy, as they would be if their parents had not gotten divorced, and the harm is permanent, it cannot be repaired by any means.

Please make this the subject of an upcoming article soon, and publish it in all your writings, so that gay people will not inadvertently put themselves in the position of being harmed even further.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, that is so very important to the gay community everywhere.

Sincerely,

Marlene Worthington