Dear Editor:

You raised a lot of points in your last editorial, “Let ‘em duke it out a few rounds”, and foremost I am glad that the community is beginning to discuss these points. For one, I believe that any leader or outstanding citizen should offer their candidacy for office, if the time and person are right, for the political process can and ought to be a strong dialogue of ideas and engagement of, by, and for the public. Clean elections with multiple choices, ideally, are a beneficial course. But in reality, there are those in San Diego that don’t play clean, and often these establishment forces are aligned with candidates which are, among other issues, anti-LGBT policy. For this reason, we must think strategically about the upcoming election and our choice for City Council.

And the community has been thinking about this – unofficially, for six years now. And as individuals have assessed whether the job and the time is right for them, we have yielded two outstanding potential candidates: Gloria and Whitburn. And they will show their competencies of “legal, financial, and/or business” matters, not to mention a slew of other qualities becoming of council members, during their campaigns. And you will be impressed. As a member of the San Diego Democratic Club, I hope you and your readers will join our meetings (4th Thursday every month, 7pm, Joyce Beers Center next to Trader Joe’s, wink wink) where we will host forums to hear these ideas – the pinnacle event being consideration of our endorsement for the City Council 3rd District. Contrary to your assumption though, there is not uniformity within the Club yet; there are those that support Whitburn, those that support Gloria, and those that are undecided. The dialogue will be great, but we shouldn’t ask ‘em to “duke it out a few rounds”. We don’t need or want a negative campaign that would split the electorate and force a runoff election. We need to engage, decide, and promote one of our own to City Council by the June primary so that we may focus our November 2008 efforts battling the establishment for the other City Council seats, as well as other competitive races and measures.

Christopher Ward

See www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=9489

Dear Editor:

I need to make a brief response to Nicole Murray’s comment that thousands of anti-Gay Christians “will be coming to San Diego to hold a rally focusing on the sin of homosexuality.”

Nicole presents this event, which is called “Acquire the Fire” and put on by a Christian activist group called Battlecry, as if it were some kind of invasion. The truth of the matter is that “Acquire the Fire” is a youth event and concert, and the participants will be largely local.

Battlecry is NOT a Gay-friendly organization, however, Nicole’s claim that their event will be focusing on homosexuality is inflammatory and irresponsible. Battlecry is opposed to “ungodly” American popular culture in general and their event is part of a widespread campaign to organize Christians to take political and evangelistic action to address their concerns.

I agree with Nicole that our community needs to respond to this event, and in a manner that does not become ugly. We can express our dissent with this group’s views without demonizing them in the process.

Unfortunately, Nicole’s remarks about this group in his column is a step in exactly the wrong direction.

Rev Keith W Ramsey

See www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=9389

Dear Editor:

Now I’ve seen everything! I had always thought that if anywhere I was to find sexual orientation-friendly material it would be, what?, no!, the GAY & LESBIAN TIMES of San Diego?

It’s simply amazing that your editors have taken such a neolithic stance on the controversy surrounding the San Diego Middle School teacher, Gary Gapusan. You invited readers to review his site on MySpace.com. This I did, and was unable to find anything that would of all things, call for the FIRING of Mr. Gapusan! That wasn’t even the question. He was merely “called on the carpet”, and resigned as a chaperone, that’s all....no “firing”, was involved.

A darker side of me almost wishes that they “fire” him, as you so incredibly call for, so we could have see the full impact of a civil suit thrown against the San Diego Unified School District, with an almost slam-dunk win for the plaintiff.

Although his site can be judged at worst juvenile and slightly risqué, it is in no way pornographic or sexually explicit. For goodness sake, when asked his sexual orientation, he responds with NO response, as if that should matter in this day and age. Though there are some light homo-erotic links, there are also light hetero-erotic links, maybe even more of the latter in his site.

The farthest I would go on your end, would be to ask Mr. Gapusan to edit his site and remove some of the more tasteless links and references, since students may or may not have access to these, but your calling for his “firing” is beyond the pale. Besides, that matter is moot, since his site has not been available for some time. With all we have done to change the hearts and minds of the ordinary citizen in the U.S. to date, shame on you for writing such an unbelievably intolerant opinion.

T. Lucero

See www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=9234

Dear Editor:

Two years ago the San Diego Chief of Police, William Landsdowne, addressed the LGBT community at a coffee house in Hillcrest after much publicity. He stood in front of the large crowd of business people and announced that he was not going to send undercover police into our places of business. That turned out to be a bold face lie. Now it is a matter of public record the undercover police are being sent into the gay bathhouses, not looking for muggers, not looking for druggies, not looking for prostitution but looking for gay sexual activity between consenting adults.

Don’t the Chief and City Attorney Michael Aguirre have anything better to do than to continue to waste our tax dollars? Those of us with children would like to think that bathhouses are an acceptable place for some men to go rather than in our parks, public restrooms and YMCA’s.

Living near the 2200 Club it seems to be a very quiet business with a well maintained building with no signs and a clean parking lot full of expensive cars. I never see police cars or any disturbances there. It hardly seems to the place to warrant undercover police when they are so desperately needed on our crime ridden streets. With the city nearly bankrupt and our police department understaffed and underpaid should our city officials be using our city’s scarce resources for personal agendas? Does Michael Aguirre have the right to selectively target businesses that might not be politically or financially supporting his campaign?

Dee Keng

See www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=9192