Dear Editor,

I have a newsflash for you: the Whoring doesn’t stop just because gay men get into a relationship, if my observations have any relevance to reality. It takes on a different form but it doesn’t stop.

My most conclusive proof comes in the form of encounters with clients over 25 years as a massage escort who want to treat themselves to a little extra-curricular activities. Then, there are the late night visits to bars to see if their cruising instincts are still good. Just sitting in the Eagle to watch the guys who come in to use the bathroom but don’t buy a drink; or, the guys who wander in to the backroom at Wolfs to play, bears this out. But that came to a halt last week when the BpaWs (Behavior Police at Wolfs) struck. I was sitting in Wolfs only last evening and saw several come in, stand at the door to the backroom in disbelief when they saw the lights on.

Gay men are good at paying lip service to the concept of monogamy and sexual fidelity but few successfully practice it. To me, it’s almost unworkable and oxymoronic and I don’t know why we try to make it work, just because it’s the dominant paradigm with a 50% failure rate among hets.

Tom Giles

North Park

Dear Editor,

I felt compelled to write to comment on your article regarding the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” segment. As a doctoral student in clinical psychology, it saddens me to see that your magazine would encourage a person of Jason Tiner’s egotism in such a manner. There are many gay men and women who valiantly serve in the military and deserve far better representation than a young man whose obvious goal is to milk his 15 minutes of fame on a ridiculously demeaning reality show for all he can. A true hero does not need to preen and pose to receive as much attention as possible. Mr. Tiner’s attempt to “cash in” on his discharge from the military only discredits all the courageous gay men and women who serve our country proudly. And it will be those heroes who effect true change and acceptance within our country, not a young man who is obliviously more concerned with vanity and ego than true heroism.

Dino Vannucci

San Diego

Dear Editor,

What makes Anna-Nicole Murray-Ramirez think she’s a critic? In “Conversations with Nicole” (12/11/03) she trashes the HBO adaptation of Angels in America — a production that has received universal critical acclaim. I have yet to read a review by a real critic that didn’t praise the show as a major event in American television.

Depressing? The play was never intended to be a gay Mary Poppins. Bad gay role models? It is not the function of good drama to present good role models — gay or straight. Stereotypical characters? She has the nerve to criticize characters as stereotypes when she is one of the biggest gay stereotypes around.

Nicole should stick to what she does best — dishing dirt, sucking up to wealthy gay dilettantes and local politicos, name-dropping and self-promotion. Leave the literary criticism to those who know what they’re talking about.

Robert Sherman

San Diego, CA