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editorial

Letters to the Editor

Published Thursday, 15-Jul-2004 in issue 864

“[D]ecide on such a formula and stick with it.”

Dear Editor:

The publishing of your “letters” policy at the Times is very intriguing to me for three reasons.

First, there must be a lot of reader apathy out there because, for a paper that claims to make room to print every letter it receives, I do not recall seeing more than three to four on average in print each week. Online, you only posted one this past week. Also, your online version of the paper never carries all the letters you print.

Secondly, for a while you had an editor who liberally sprinkled the letters with (sic) behind each misspelling and misuse of grammar. It was explained to me that the policy was at the behest of the publisher – not a move that inspired reader participation.

And lastly, your publisher spent nearly an hour on the phone with me to discuss my letters deploring the crystal meth epidemic in the bath houses. It was in response to your ridiculous editorial that attempted to draw parallels between going to the Ken to watch a movie and getting high and having unsafe sex in a private sex club. To that end, you never published my letter.

Perhaps before you criticize the other publications in town and extol the virtues of your “letters” policy, you should decide on such a formula and stick with it.

Lee A. Schoenbart

“Nicole … ought not to be suggesting that someone who has the capacity for sexual attraction to any gender is any more or less confused than anyone else.”

I and many in the LGBT community are very concerned with the reference in Nicole’s column on June 24 about Keven Graff, the young man accused of murder in Los Angeles.

Nicole describes Mr. Graff, as “… a really nice guy but seemed confused about his true sexual orientation (boyfriends and girlfriends).”

I am wondering, what does “true sexual orientation” mean and Is someone with boyfriends and girlfriends necessarily confused?

I certainly hope Nicole is not intending to perpetuate a classic and extremely ignorant myth that someone who is not homosexual or heterosexual but rather bisexual is “CONFUSED”.

Since the column ran last week, I have received several calls and emails from the LGT and bisexual community in San Diego expressing great concern with the story. Attaching this intolerant reference in a story about an accused murderer is very disappointing.

Nicole is a leading activist who champions LGBT causes and has given a lot to the community. She ought not to be suggesting that someone who has the capacity for sexual attraction to any gender is any more or less confused than anyone else. The data is very clear that confusion surrounding sexual proclivity is common amongst all sexual orientations.

Richard Woulfe

“One of the primary reasons we launched CityBeat was because of Jim Holman’s religious-right political leanings.”

Dear Editor:

Congratulations on your July 8 issue on local media. There’s not nearly enough media criticism in this town. I particularly enjoyed the story about The Reader and its editor, Jim Holman. The Reader is an enigma when it comes to alternative journalism. He has the right to run his paper however he chooses, but it’s important for the people of San Diego to know about his hostile attitude toward the GLBT community, as well as his ardent support for politicians bent on taking away a woman’s right to choose an abortion.

However, as much I as appreciated the coverage of media, I was mildly disappointed to find that the paper I edit, San Diego CityBeat, was entirely overlooked, unless I missed something. CityBeat reaches far more than 100,000 readers each week, and, I believe, has done a nice job occasionally covering issues important to the GLBT community – and publishing strongly worded editorials advocating for GLBT rights – during its first two years in existence. One of the primary reasons we launched CityBeat was because of

Jim Holman’s religious-right political leanings. San Diego needed a progressive alternative to the bizarre conservative alternative, and I believe we’ve filled that void nicely.

Keep up the good work.

David Rolland,

Editor, San Diego CityBeat

Letters Policy

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.

All letters containing subject matter that refers to the content of the Gay & Lesbian Times are published unedited. Letters that are unrelated to the content of the publication will be published at the discretion of the editorial staff.