Dear Editor:

Kudos to Bob Roehr for his thoughtful article on Barbara Gittings. His quote from Ken Sherrill, referring to her “incredible warmth and friendliness,” is right on target.

I first met Barbara in the mid-70s, when I joined her effort to get the New York Public Library to establish an East Coast gay archives. It didn’t get anywhere at the time, since NYPL then wanted an upfront million-dollar endowment. But I still remember how carefully we prepared, how neatly we dressed, and how nervous we all were en route to the office of the contact librarian. Lo and behold, behind his desk was a huge cardboard cutout of a handsome young sailor! So there we were, being very professional and trying not to notice (while of course noticing) the elephant in the room that told us we had a friend in court. I still laugh whenever I think of it.

Subsequently Barbara recruited me for entries on the sixth (and last) version of her gay bibliography, for the chapter on gay history in a planned book (never completed) on gay bibliography, service as a reader for the Gay Book Awards, and even as ghostwriter for the presentation speech for one of the winners. I enjoyed Barbara and Kay’s generous hospitality at their Philadelphia home, and profited from Barbara’s sage advice on how to deal with some movement problem, back home in Boston. I last heard from her in April 2006, when she was looking for anecdotes for her keynote speech to the first international gathering of gay librarians, archivists, and curators at the University of Minnesota.

One correction and a couple of additions. Barbara was not “a librarian by profession.” In fact, she dropped out of Northwestern after a year and never earned a degree. But she was a superb gay bibliographer, well respected by professional librarians. In 2003 the American Library Association named her an honorary life member, their highest honor.

Kay, now badly crippled by arthritis, was a life partner in every sense. She took the now iconic photo of Barbara carrying a sign reading “Homosexuals should be judged as individuals” at one of the Independence Hall Fourth of July demonstrations of the late 1960s, events now commemorated by a historic marker (GLT ran pictures of both in its October 5, 2006 issue). In addition to the documentary films Roehr mentions, there are also fine studies of Barbara by Kay in The Gay Crusaders (1972) and Before Stonewall (2002).

A great human being, Barbara made a difference in all of our lives by her work in getting good gay books into scores of libraries.

William A. Koelsch

Dear Editor:

I read Nicole’s column and his comments about the 2200 Club and his conversation with City Attorney Michael Aguirre. The actions of the city attorney against the 2200 Club have nothing to do with illegal drugs. The 2200 Club maintains a list of about three hundred former members who are barred from the premises due to illegal drug use, violence or dishonesty. These names are on a video monitor located by the clerk checks against the legal photo identification of the member every time he attempts to enter. Entry is also barred to anyone on the list or who exhibits impaired judgment.

The County Health Department first tied to close the club claiming they had not issued a health permit even though they accepted the application, took the payment, cashed the check and told us to hang the receipt on the wall until the certificate arrived. Then the one year later they sent a renewal notice and again we paid it and they sent us the health permit. The next attempt to close the club was by the city attorney’s office claiming that the 2200 Club was operating as an adult business within 1,000 feet of residential property even though there had been a bathhouse at our location for over 21 years

Our manager met with Lt. Margaret Schaufelberger, the police department‘s liaison to the GLBT community and discussed the policies and procedures of the club.

The 2200 Club is inspected quarterly by the San Diego Department of Environmental Health, invites the North Park Health Clinic into the club twice a week, Tuesday and Fridays, to distribute safe sex literature and to counsel members, distributes complimentary condoms to all members entering facility as recommended by both the San Diego Department of Environmental health and the North Park Health Clinic, does not allow members to bring bags or other containers into the club that might contain illegal substances, permanently bans any member suspected of using, selling or asking for illegal substances, rejects registered sexual offenders from employment only shows videos shown on the televisions depicting safe sex practices, has never had a death or serious injury on the premises, no member of the staff has been arrested, cited and/or convicted of any illegal activity at the club, no illegal or contraband merchandise has ever been sold or distributed by the club, maintains good relationships with neighbors, and actively supports charities

The intention of the city attorney’s office to close the 2200 Club was solely based on sexual activity in a private club between consenting adults. The undercover police officers did not ask other club members or members of the staff for illegal drugs. The court only found the club in violation of allowing the two members to enter a single occupancy room.

Gay bathhouses remain one of the safest, drug free, private places for gay men to congregate and enjoy.

Bob Smith

The 2200 Club

Dear Editor:

Come on Nicole. Your comments about the 2200 Club were a crock and you know it. There has never been a drug problem at the 2200 Club. There has never been a drug overdose, a serious injury, a death, or a drug related arrest. The staff will throw you out even if you just ask another member about drugs. A friend of mine was permanently banned from the club because some paraphernalia was found under the mattress in a room he had occupied. He does not even do drugs. The only time the uniformed police have been to the 2200 Club is when they were called by the staff to throw a troublemaker out. Even the undercover police that City Attorney Michael Aguirre sent in there found no evidence of illegal drug use. In fact they did not look for drugs, ask for drugs or make any attempt to locate or buy drugs. The only thing that the undercover cops looked for, as they wandered around the club in their birthday suits, was gay sex between consenting adults in a private club.

If Michael Aguirre is successful in closing the gay bathhouses for what has been going on in the city’s bathhouses for over fifty years then who is going to pay for all the additional undercover police needed at Balboa Park and our city’s public restrooms? Will he take responsibility for what he will be exposing the San Diego families to who are using the parks? Will Balboa Park regain its reputation that it held in the sixties and seventies as a gay whorehouse? Chief Landsdowne and the San Diego police officers do not want the bathhouses shut down. I bet the San Diego tourist industry does not want to lose the wholesome image of our city.

Please limit your column to the truth about our gay businesses. Don’t make untrue and undocumented excuses for Michael Aguirre’s actions. The GLBT community knows what he is up to. He is fast losing the political support that he once had from all of us and the religious right that he is now courting will never vote for him.

Tyrone Jones

Dear Editor:

I am wondering why you no longer include the weekly San Diego gay sports in the Times. I have enjoyed this feature and am disappointed you have chosen to exclude it. I think it is more significant than the myriad sex ads!

Bruce McLean