On Sunday, June 24, tens of thousands of gays, lesbians, and those who love them will gather for Seattle's Gay Pride parade, to commemorate the Stonewall riots that took place in New York City in 1969. Sparked by a routine vice-squad raid on a gay bar, the Stonewall riots kicked off the modern gay rights movement, and every June, gays and lesbians are encouraged to take time to pause and reflect on that movement--how far we've come, how far we have to go, and of course, what we're wearing and who we're sleeping with.

We here at The Stranger like to do our part for gay and lesbian self-obsession by packing our annual Queer Issue with self-obsessed, navel-gazing essays on queer subjects by queer writers. And about 10 minutes after our Queer Issue hits the streets, the letters start pouring in. Tucked in among the usual gripes and death threats from the rainbow-flag wavers (and the occasional left-field compliment), we'll receive a half-dozen letters from straight people asking why The Stranger doesn't do a "Straight Issue." We like to think The Stranger does lots of straight issues--51 per year, thank you very much--but, ah, we have to admit that sometimes our "straight" issues are awfully queer.

So, straight people, this is your year. Sort of. You see, The Stranger's Queer Issue 2001 is 100 percent straight--all straight writers, no queer writers. Like the old Bette Midler joke printed above, we gays want to talk about you--but only because we're curious about what you think of us. So for this year's Queer Issue, straight writers peered into queer navels (eeeeew!) and reported back to us. The writers run the gamut from anti-gay preachers and personal trainers (!) to pro-gay preachers and TV news anchors. As usual, our Queer Issue is not for the faint of heart. If your lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, intersexed, queer, or kweer skin is thin, you might wanna grab your rainbow-striped teddy bear and run for the cellar, Dorothy.

--Dan Savage