Dear Editor:

Once again, Ron de Harte and the San Diego Pride team have done a stellar job at organizing a great Pride Parade and Festival. It’s a huge, complex task, but they pulled it off wonderfully. There were lots of beautiful floats and energetic people in the parade, and great things to do and see at the festival. I want to give the Pride Committee my thanks for putting on great event. However, I do have a suggestion for improvement. The shuttle service after the parade left something to be desired. Upon boarding at Balboa Park to return to the Old Navy Hospital parking lot, we were told that we would first make a stop at the parade start location on University. That’s fine and understandable. However, rather than take a direct route up Sixth St. to University, which had both been reopened by then, the driver took Fourth St. to downtown, to Park Ave., and passed the Old Navy Hospital parking lot without stopping. He continued up Park back to the parade start location, and dropped off two people, and two people got on. He then went back to the Old Navy Hospital, where nearly everyone on the bus wanted to go. This added approximately

20-25 minutes of extra time for all of these people. And not only was it a waste of time, it was a huge waste of fuel and a needless addition to pollution. When asked why he did not stop, the bus driver simply said we would be going back. I suggest that better route planning for the shuttle is an important part of overall festival planning, to save time, frustration, and the environment.

Best regards,

Paul Silver

Dear Editor:

I was just coming to the conclusion that this last issue of the GL Times was your best issue to date. The feature article was rich and compelling in its description of the history of the gay movement from the late 1960’s up to the present. Many of the commentaries were uplifting, inspirational, and forceful in their call for political activism from our community. Then, I came across what appeared to be a two-page article, but was, in fact, a paid advertisement titled “The Aids Trap,” which essentially challenged the notion that the HIV virus causes AIDS. Furthermore, it claimed that HIV testing is inherently flawed and “test results are open to interpretation.” I was apoplectic when I read, “AIDS Medicines (sic) themselves cause the symptoms of AIDS.” It is the height of irresponsibility for such an ad to appear in any publication, especially a publication that is specifically targeted for the gay community. There should be no amount of money acceptable to spread such misinformation. From the frontlines of the AIDS activist movement of the 1980’s to the current campaign to educate and prevent HIV transmission, the gay community has fought hard to make education about HIV a fundamental part of our community. This work should not be sacrificed for short-term monetary gain by the GL Times. To show that the gay community’s work has not been in vain, I urge the Times to donate the money earned from this ad to a program that promotes HIV/AIDS education and prevention. Anything less would be a betrayal to our community.

Sincerely,

Adrienne M. Schlang, M.D.