TOM FRANCIS: Kudos! I'm a gay man with many straight male friends, and what you wrote ["Legislating Tolerance," June 22] is completely spot-on. My straight guy friends are progressive, enlightened (one of them thought I should date his gay brother), and accepting. But more than one of them has reported being "weirded out" by gay men coming on to them at their gyms.
At first I thought they were being paranoid. Then I went with a few of them to their gyms. Holy crap. Talk about predatory. I'm a secure, out, in-shape gay man, but they (my straight friends—some not in the best shape) were getting all the attention. At first I thought it was because they were perceived as playing hard to get. However, I don't think that was the case. It was more animalistic: The homos could "smell their own" and instead of going after someone in their own tribe (i.e., a cock-loving fag) it was a higher calling to "conquer" someone from a different tribe (i.e., a non-cock-loving non-fag).
I had to acknowledge that they had been subjected to a very unusual form of sexual discrimination.
Name withheld
FAG-HAG PRIDECIENNA MADRID: I have considered your petition for changing the tried-and-true term "Fag Hag" to the Much Less Fabulous and Less Interesting, Nanny-Something-or-Other ["The Fag-Hag Emancipation Act of 2006," June 22], and I summarily reject said petition.
You should be delighted to have the honor of "Hag," a magical creature, bestowed upon you by We Fairies (also magical, if somewhat more attractive, creatures). And while you argue that nothing endearing ends in "Hag," you fail to acknowledge that in the same phrase we also incorporate the term "Fag" to refer to ourselves, creating a double-headed poisoned arrow. Besides, it rhymes! "Nanny" only rhymes with "Fanny," and is that really where you want to focus attention? (Yours, not mine. Mine is published on several local and national websites.)
Also, despite the considerable contributions you claim to make to Our Comfort and General Feeling of Love and Well-Being, let's not pretend that you are not benefiting from this arrangement—like how We Fairies Never Judge Your Considerable Affection for Men of the Married Persuasion. Your rant is also noticeably lacking in Boundless Gratitude for the fact that we have purged your wardrobe of Most Things Big and Purple and Bought at Target.
So, HAG, take the broomstick out of your ass and let's go for a margarita.
Jason
OK ORPHANSDEAR EDITOR: Dan Savage's vision of states snatching kids from gay parents ["Amend It to End It," June 22] is not so far-fetched. When Oklahoma banned gays and lesbians from adopting in 2004, it also decreed that Oklahoma would not recognize adoptions by gay couples approved by other states' courts. Until Lambda Legal got the law tossed out, the children of gay couples became legal orphans when they traveled through Oklahoma or moved there.
Dave Horn
GOOD TO KNOWDAN SAVAGE: Instead of a cold bath for your fevered son ["Amend It to End It," June 22], next time try dunking a bath towel in hot or warm water, wring it out and place it over the child on a sofa or in your arms. As the towel cools, it cools the child, but isn't a temperature shock like cold water. Works well and quickly.
Isobel
INTRAUTERINE INTRICACIESEDITOR: In "Ban Heterosexual Complacency" [June 22], Erica C. Barnett wrote that emergency contraception "prevents a fertilized egg from being implanted in the uterus..."
To quote Planned Parenthood, "[emergency contraception pills] prevent pregnancy by stopping ovulation or fertilization. IUDs prevent fertilization. Theoretically, EC could also prevent implantation, but that has not been proven scientifically."
To prove that ECPs prevent implantation of a fertilized egg would require visual inspection of the reproductive organs, as there are no hormonal indicators of fertilization.
Anne
RIGHT TO ADOPTEDITOR: I propose a law that restricts the use of reproductive technology as follows: Any persons who opposes abortion rights and who find themselves unable to conceive a child naturally, shall have only one alternative process available to them: adoption of the unwanted children they poured so much energy into compelling other women to bear.
Dana Sweeney
COPPER-CLAD PLEASURECHARLES MUDEDE: We want to let you know how much we appreciate your article on the Douglass-Truth branch library ["Pointed Break," June 15]. Wherever we go these days, folks mention that they read the article and are prompted to drive by and see the project. It is encouraging to have the work responded to so positively. As you know, going out on a limb involves risks. We knew we were going to encounter some negative reaction to the project. But your writing, and the vast majority of people we meet who have seen the building, indicates to us that the risk was well worth taking.
Walter Schacht
Schacht | Aslani Architects
CORRECTION: In the June 22 In the Hall, Erica C. Barnett reported that Mayor Greg Nickels commissioned a poll on his $1.8 billion transportation-tax proposal after two business organizations and a majority of respondents to a separate poll opposed the measure. In fact, Nickels did his poll before the Downtown Seattle Association, the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and respondents to a poll by Stuart Elway came out against his tax initiative. We regret the error.
