Dear Editor:

I read with quite some concern, but I was humored as well to hear the “dismay” of Mick Frasca and Richard Britton over their “gay-bashing”.

My concern is not directed at the “suffering” of these two gay businessmen. But my concern is how two very visible members of the gay community could have handled the situation so disastrously. And then to have involved Nicole Ramirez was the final straw.

First of all, when Mr. Frasca heard the comment about something being dropped on his car, he should have moved his car immediately to another less vulnerable spot. After, being acquainted with Mr. Frasca a few times, I am quite aware of his antagonistic nature, and eagerness to turn any confrontation into an all out war.

This is not to discredit Mr. Frasca, but name-calling and muscle flexing in the middle of Park Boulevard cannot be called the most mature behavior on either party.

Then here comes Richard Britton strutting across the street like he owns it and takes matters into his own hands. To have involved this worker’s supervisor and the get the supervisor of the whole site involved is a little overdoing it, wouldn’t you say?

My point is this. To make such a raucus over a word like “faggot” is really not the way I would have handled this situation.

But was it really necessary to have the man removed from this worksite? Come on people, the man is trying to make a living like the rest of us. Sure, he may not have “sensitivity training” or what other bs that Nicole is trying to dish out.

Sure, the heterosexuality community has a lot of learning to do, but this way of promoting tolerance will surely backfire. Do you really think this worker is going to attend or learn anything from the “mandatory” training that may or may not be installed in this company?

I think not. This has only intensified and probably multiplied this person’s anger and hatred towards gays and lesbians. He will spread this ire to others, including his co-workers, who support, know and work with this man on a daily basis.

This has only created a scene that I do not want. A group of fag bashing construction workers in Hillcrest that will target each and every person entering and exiting gay businesses near that site. He will spread this message to his drinking buddies, sports buds and others. His message will be “oh some pitiful little faggot down in Hillcrest got a wittle offended because I called him names”. The whole purpose of tolerance goes both ways people. Don’t forget that!

A hate crime is what poor Matthew Shepard suffered (God rest his soul). The boys that tortured and murdered Matthew were driven by the same manifestation of anger and frustration being doled out because of Nicole’s suggestions to become more sensitive. These men don’t care about sensitivity. They care about working and taking care of their families. That’s it. Nicole has caused another drama in San Diego to turn itself into a another mess.

Mark my words, it will not change until we change as well.

Alexandros

Dear Editor:

At no point in history has the majority ever been ready for the minority to ask for their rights. Asking the general population of men at the time women wanted the right to vote, they would have stated that women were not capable of that right. Asking the general population on segregation as recently as this year show that even today there are those out there that do not believe in equality for all people. Slaves were not offered freedom by their masters. They had to fight for it.

Sometimes we take one step forward and two steps back. It is a horrible experience to have a court decide that your relationship to your wife or husband is not worthy of protection and then to have a forced annulment by the state on a couple, to my knowledge is something that has never happened before.

We just want all the same rights that every other person has. And it’s never too soon to ask for them.

Renee Olson

Dear Editor:

I am a 23 year old gay man. I have been with my husband for over three years. The gay community has come refreshingly far in my lifetime. When I stood on the steps of City Hall in San Francisco earlier this year with my marriage license in hand and hundreds of people cheering it felt like a dream. We knew they weren’t legal, but we knew we were taking a stand.

I did I funny thing yesterday. I read the Bill of Rights. As I was reading it I found myself asking how we could have such a wonderful groundwork for freedom and yet live without these freedoms. We don’t think to question why and don’t bother to hope that we will. I never hoped for marriage the way I do now. Standing one those steps change me. I felt freedom that day; a freedom so foreign and so wonderful that I never wanted to let go.

Times have changed, and even if they hadn’t the groundwork was always there. “Equal Protection,” That goes for me, my marriage and our children. Why should the children of heterosexual couples be safer than my children? “Separation of Church and State,” The first line in the Bill of Rights “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Our founding fathers must have thought this important even back then, and yet now we have a President and other politicians blatantly and intentionally using their positions to promote policy based on religious belief. Why aren’t we stopping them? How are they allowed to continue? They complain about activist judges over ruling the will of the people. Those judges are not activists, they are just good readers.

It is not too soon too fast for these basic protections, responsibilities, and human rights. I am human. My children are human. It has been far too long.

Fernando Z Lopez