Columns

Letters to the Editor

I'm getting a little tired of reading these ridiculous articles by Eli Sanders ["Basic Values vs. Basic Plumbing" Oct 9, "The Immoral Minority" June 5] that read more like fiction. If Sanders is trying to be a reporter, he might want to try doing a little bit more research. To start off with, he might consider the fact that Gay City is NOT an AIDS service organization, it is a gay men's health organization, which encompasses many things above and beyond AIDS.

He might also try checking out some of these events he writes about, or interviewing former attendees.

It might surprise him to know what the Murder in the Dark event is actually about, since it has nothing to do with "promoting anonymous sex to young gay men" and everything to do with demystifying a part of gay culture that many young gay men only hear lurid stories about, and having frank discussions and an exchange of information about the dangers and risks of engaging in such behavior. It's a fact that gay men go to bathhouses; avoiding them will not help to protect anyone.

He might also have investigated Coffee Talks, Gay City University, and other programs he's ridiculed a little further before writing his nonsense. He might be surprised to learn that Gay City University's mission is NOT to prevent the spread of HIV. He might have found that participants there, like myself, not only attended "the cheese class," but also classes on gay history in Seattle, financial concerns for gay men, and building successful relationships, and other courses that help to promote mental and emotional health.

There's a reason that participants in Gay City's events consistently remark that their connection to the community is stronger, that they have learned new things, and that they are practicing better behaviors. Perhaps if Sanders looked a little harder, he'd discover that a small group of staff and volunteers is doing its best to fight a tidal wave of health issues in our community with very little funding and very little governmental support.

Michael Taylor

ELI SANDERS RESPONDS: Michael Taylor is the one with his facts wrong. Gay City's mission, which can be read on the organization's website (www.gaycity.org), is "to promote gay and bisexual men's health and prevent HIV transmission." In other words, the agency exists to combat the spread of HIV and STDs among gay men. That's exactly what I wrote, and that's exactly what King County expects Gay City to be doing when it funnels HIV prevention money to the agency (some $180,000 worth last year).

Taylor writes, "It's a fact that gay men go to bathhouses; avoiding them will not protect anyone." Some gay men go to bathhouses. But it is certainly not correct to say that the sex lives of all gay men revolve around the bathhouse. And those gay men who avoid the bathhouses and sex clubs in this city are clearly avoiding risky environments that exist to promote (and make tons of money from) anonymous gay sex. As I wrote: Of the gay men who contracted syphilis between 1998 and 2002 in King County, about 40 percent of them reported meeting their sex partners in bathhouses and sex clubs.

In a press release Gay City put out after my article appeared, the agency even admits that bathhouses and sex clubs are risky places to be: "Murder in the Dark [the Gay City sex-club event that was canceled after The Stranger tipped off the health department] clearly takes a very realistic approach to reaching out to those who are most at risk."

Now, Michael, ask yourself: Do we want to encourage young gay men between the ages of 18 and 29 who are not going to bathhouses and sex clubs to join the ranks of "those who are most at risk"? Do we want to "demystify" (which is code for "normalize") the sex-club experience for guys who are not already Basic Plumbing regulars? That's exactly what this event would have done.

Though the Gay City press release conveniently neglects to mention this, Murder in the Dark reached way beyond those who are "most at risk," inviting "sex-club virgins" between the ages of 18 and 29 to attend. That was the problem. The agency was not simply targeting the pool of "most at risk" sex-club regulars. Instead, it was increasing the pool of those "most at risk" by socializing a new generation of young gay men into sex-club culture.

You, Michael, and Gay City, in its press release, both suggest that past Murder in the Dark participants have been happy with the event. Michael, you also suggest that people who get involved with Gay City are "practicing better behaviors" as a result of such programming. As I have written in the past, I don't believe Gay City has hard data proving behavior change among the people in its programs, although the agency often gives the impression that it does. The Stranger offered months ago to publish any such data if Gay City would turn it over--and we're still waiting.

COMMON SENSE

TO ELI SANDERS: Thank you for being a voice of common sense. You are proving that we can address values and morality within the queer community without sounding like Andrew Sullivan.

Kevin Erickson

FAULTY JUDGEMENT

ELI SANDERS: In your October 9 article on gay health, you use the word "judgement" as used on a Gay City flier to draw a comparison between their policies and their spelling. Well, "judgement" is an acceptable variant of the word "judgment," according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and it's the first spelling listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. While I agree with your criticisms of the gay health organizations in this region, you might do well to use a dictionary before using metaphors based on "misspellings."

Erica Weiland

SEATTLE UNIVERSITY SOPHOMORE SUCKS UP

TO THE EDITOR: Your recent article on Seattle University ["Your Orientation to Seattle University," Demetrius Placidus, Sept 25] was definitely an interesting read. Full of biased, inaccurate information, more than one homophobic slur, and poor advice for college students in general, but still interesting. About the only accurate thing said in the entire article was about the library, which is pretty raunchy.

College is what you make of it, but at Seattle University I've found it hard to be apathetic because of the amazing professors who care about you and the world, and the progressive social justice mission of the university. I'm proud to be going to one of the best graduate-level universities in the Western states, according to many college-ranking firms (most recently the Princeton Review). One can only wonder why the author of the article graduated from SU if he felt so unmoved by it.

Zac Annen
Sophomore, Seattle University

IN DEFENSE OF SCCC

DEAR EDITOR: If I had never heard of Seattle Central Community College before reading The Stranger's article bemoaning the "suckiness" of the school, I would have agreed with the author, Will Kostas ["Your Orientation to Seattle Central Community College," Sept 25]. It seems he doesn't know much about writing an article. Like everyone else at The Stranger, he has a nasty tongue.

I have been fortunate to know a few people who attend SCCC--people who take their work seriously, attend class, and treat the school like any other accredited college or university. The awful students Kostas refers to seem identical with his own personality: They fail to take interest in their work, then whine and blame other circumstances, or "elevators in the building, raising and lowering themselves through the building's five stories at a glacial, creaking creep." Anyone who would blame an elevator for his or her supposed low "expected future salaries" has got to be the most spoiled, self-centered brat in the entire system of higher education.

Rosie Goodnight

BEACON HILL
TO THE EDITOR: Thanks for giving me a laugh this morning in the article about the Beacon Hill "business district" ["Unsound Move," Erica C. Barnett, Oct 2]. As a resident of the neighborhood, I can tell you that there is no "ambiance" in the district. It's a motley collection of gas stations, hair salons, professional offices, and low-end grocery stores. It closes up shop at about 5:00 p.m. each night. The only bright spot in the "business district" is the Java Love. New development in the area isn't promising. Our newest "mixed-use" structure looks like the Branch Davidian compound mated with a Soviet-era apartment complex.

Ask anyone who lives on Beacon Hill (apart from the merchants and a few self-appointed "neighborhood activists") and they'll tell you the same thing. There's no "there" there. Light rail, when and if it gets built, might actually pump some life into this depressing part of Seattle.

Dan Langdon