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Letters to the Editor

Published Thursday, 15-Dec-2005 in issue 938

“I also hope that our new mayor, Arnold Sanders -OOOPS , I mean our new mayor Jerry Roberts- OOOOPS,-Wrong again….”

Dear Editor:

I also hope that our new mayor, Arnold Sanders -OOOPS , I mean our new mayor Jerry Roberts- OOOOPS,-Wrong again, that is Mayor Jerry Sanders makes good on his promises and does at least show some support of our LGBT issues.( sorry about the confusion here, it is just that I do have a problem telling these guys apart).

Gloria Johnson

“I would call your relationship an abomination!”

Dear Editor:

My own Congressman Duke Cunningham was notoriously anti-gay and opposed same-sex marriage because he wanted to protect the sanctity of heterosexual marriage. If your marriage was so terrific and better than mine would be Duke, please explain how your wife, who claims that ? of your Rancho Santa Fe Mansion obtained through your immoral actions is owed to her? How is it that your marriage was so sacred that she didn’t even wonder or question how you obtained millions in bribes? I would call your relationship an abomination!

Paul Harris

“The article did not quell my opinion of your professional aptitude but the photograph of a naked, obviously-transgender woman made me think that others see us only as prostitutes and street workers.”

Dear Editor:

As a member of the transgender community within San Diego county I was dismayed with your publication’s choice of photographs used to represent the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. If the photograph intended to get someone like me to pick up your publication and read the article, then it defeated its purpose at least in my regard.

I have been a reader of your publication since 1993 and have always considered your coverage of all aspects of San Diego’s LGBT community second-to-none and that is why I look to you for information about our community. The article did not quell my opinion of your professional aptitude but the photograph of a naked, obviously-transgender woman made me think that others see us only as prostitutes and street workers.

I have held a mainstream job for over eight-years after coming out as a male-to-female transexual to my employers. Prior to that time, many of my coworkers knew of my transexuality and I was still accepted as a viable human being. The photograph chosen by your art department to represent us this time around conjurs up thoughts within my mind that I, as a transgender woman, am being seen as merely a sex object or someone who needs to sell her body to become viable.

If your goal was to portray us as individuals naked to the “transgression”

of hate crime violence, I applaud you but there is a better way to do that.

Why not present a collage of individuals within our San Diego community who have lost their lives due to the fact that they were only trying to be themselves in spite of what others thought of them? We suffer great prejudice and setting up another source of confusion does not seem wise. In my opinion, an unclothed transexual woman does not seem a fitting tribute.

Again, I commend you for the article. It was both informative and thought-provoking. I just wish that your cover provoked a different kind of thought than what I and many of my sisters and brothers who are transgender have come away with.

Caroline Joy Clark

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.