srparedon – editorials (archive)

June 2002

One of the earliest gay pride slogans was “Gay is Good.” This catch phrase was meant as an antidote to ubiquitous, vitriolic anti-gay sentiment.

Before Stonewall and the sexual revolution, homosexuality was almost uniformly denounced as unspeakably bad: doctors labeled it a sickness, the law branded it a crime, and clerics pronounced it a sin. Few individuals were brave enough to announce their own homosexual feelings or experiences. Even to suggest that perhaps homosexuality could be thought of differently, as something other than monstrous perversion, was to risk being ostracized and deemed suspect. There was… Continue reading →

May 2002

Students of history are sometimes left wondering why victims of horrific pogroms and persecutions did not “see it coming.” Of course, hindsight is famed for its clarity, but often oppressive measures seem so clear, so calculated, that it is hard to imagine how victims ever tolerated the build-up to more final solutions.

Folklore tells us that if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, he’ll hop out­ but that if you place him in cold water and only slowly turn up the heat, he’ll stay complacently in the pot, oblivious to his… Continue reading →

April 2002

It is tempting to gloat over the Catholic Church’s problems arising from the revelation that a lot of their priests have been sexually involved with young parishioners.After all, the Catholic Church has been a leading advocate of the notions that celibacy­ that is, no sex­ manifests a heightened spiritual state and that all sex is sinful and immoral except in the procreative context of marriage.

This outrageous dogma has been continually reasserted despite all the evidence that it has caused untold human suffering.  Condom use has been opposed, encouraging the spread of disease and… Continue reading →

March 2002

A professor at a Boston area university reports that he likes querying members of his classes whether they’ve ever enjoyed homosex. Very few souls are brave enough to raise their hands. He then asks whether anyone has masturbated. Amidst nervous giggles, almost everyone nods yes, they have masturbated. He then asks how the class can resolve the contradictory polls: no one admits to homosex, yet all acknowledge masturbating– and isn’t masturbation a quintessential homosexual act? After all, it is sex with someone of the same gender. The curious professor reports that classes can spend hours then… Continue reading →

February 2002

Sexuality is a potent force in human interactions. Thus, regulating sexuality can be a powerful way to control human beings. It used to be that the Church claimed this right and invoked the authority of God (as interpreted by Church officials, of course) to narrowly proscribe acceptable sexual expression.

Today, the State has largely taken over the role of regulating sex. Fornication, adultery, sodomy, and a slew of other sexual behaviors formerly seen as sins have been recast as crimes. In our more secular age, science has replaced God as the new arbiter of what… Continue reading →

January 2002

San Francisco activists Michael Petrelis and Dave Pasquarelli have, for years, annoyed many people and institutions. Most recently, they have paired up to protest the policies and pronouncements of HIV prevention groups and the San Francisco Department of Public Health. They have disrupted meetings, organized phone and fax zaps, and denounced their foes with harsh rhetoric.

After a round of phone calls in November that police allege were threatening in nature and in violation of earlier restraining orders, Petrelis and Pasquarelli were arrested. They are being held on $500,000 bail and stand accused of a… Continue reading →