Dear Editor:

Dear Mr. deHarte and Members of SD Pride Board,

After reading this weeks editorial by the Gay and Lesbian Times, I am shocked at the action taken by the SD Pride Board in excluding LGBT youth (minors) from the Pride Festival. For many of our community’s youth, including those minors living with HIV, the concept of a “parent,” or “guardian,” is foreign.

As I am sure the Board is aware, many of the LGBT minors that the SD Pride Board intends to exclude have either been rejected by their families because of who they are or cannot reveal to their families who they are for fear of rejection. This knowledge makes the actions of the SD Pride Board even more despicable.

I have forwarded the link to the Gay & Lesbian Times “editorial” to dozens of local and national Gay & Lesbian newspapers and magazines hoping to spark some interest in this story. I have also made sure that Lambda, ACLU, and as many other LGBT legal and political organizations that I could find on the Internet are enlightened by the wisdom of the SD Pride Board’s exclusionary decision.

SD Pride’s argument of “liability” is at best attenuated. Perhaps the Board should ban HIV positive adults for fear that they might cut themselves and their blood splatter all over other Festival goers.

SD Pride owes San Diego’s LGBT community and its youth an explanation of the legal reasoning behind it’s decision to exclude youth, how this decision keeps with the “spirit” of Pride, and how this decision is not discriminatory.

I commend the Gay & Lesbian Times for keeping our community informed of the actions of our community “leaders.”

Jack Hogan

Dear Editor:

I would like to voice to you my disappointment in the San Diego Police Department and their total lack of response to the gay community. On the night of June 9, 2006 I called the police 911 emergency line, while I was working at a neighborhood bar called the San Diego Eagle. I told the operator a man was chasing a woman down the street yelling he was going to kill her. I ran across the street to help the woman get away but then the man turned his attention to me and the guest of the bar. The man tried to fight with me immediately he yelled over and over that he was going to kill us. He refused to leave the premises even after being told over and over again the police had been called. He then accused me of stealing his jacket and told me again that someone was going to die. This went on for over two hours. The Police were called the minute the man was seen chasing someone down the street and they were called several times after that, each time the man would try to escalate the situation. Towards the end of the night he told us he was calling his friends and they were going to kill everyone there at the bar. I called 911 again and further explained the situation to the operator. She told me she could put someone in rout now that she had an address. I know I gave her the address the very first time I called, I know the bartender gave her the address, and I know one of the customers called told the operator the man had a knife and gave the operator the address. I saw police cars drive by on side streets close to the Eagle and not stop to assist us. The Police never came to the bar on the night of June 9, 2006. The situation went on for hours before the man left at around 1:30am. I can not tell you how disappointed I am and how I can not help but feel that if we were a heterosexual bar we would have had police assistance that night. I never even received a phone call from the dispatchers to ask if everyone was still alive, if we needed an ambulance or to tell us when we could expect help to come from the people we pay to protect us. I understand the police in San Diego are stretched thin and have a lot of ground to cover, however to see police cars driving by while this man was in the street yelling he was going to kill us, and then for the police cars “who did not have their emergency lights to indicate their was a more important emergency needing their attention” not stop to help tax paying citizens is unacceptable. What kind of support can the city of San Diego expect from the gay community if the city ignores us when we are in mortal danger?

Michael Sager

Dear Editor:

Nicole’s wish that the San Diego Democratic Club (SDDC) could issue an endorsement slate supporting just one candidate in each race [GLT, June 8] is shared by many of us. However, there are good reasons why it doesn’t always happen. SDDC endorsements reflect the input of many members participating in a very democratic process with a high threshold (60% vote) required for endorsement. When the membership voted on whom to endorse for governor, it split exactly evenly between Angelides and Westly. The SDDC indicated that to voters by listing both candidates in its Voter Guide. In these instances where SDDC members support more than one candidate, we hope that GLBT voters who follow the SDDC’s endorsements will reach an informed decision on their own. In the majority of cases, where SDDC members do settle on a single candidate, GLBT voters can feel confident in the knowledge that the endorsement was achieved through a rigorous and democratic process.

Stephen Whitburn, President

San Diego Democratic Club