srparedon – editorials (archive)

June 2001

June is traditionally a time to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall uprising where in drag queens, bar patrons, and street riff raff stood up to anti-gay police harassment. And for over three decades the rallying cry of June’s marches and events has been “gay pride.”

The emphasis on pride has been understandable. Generations had been raised to believe gay sex acts unmentionably shameful. Pride was a useful antidote to such crippling shame, and June’s events have helped many step out of self-imposed, suffocating closets.

But as we watch so many gay institutions stray from their… Continue reading →

May 2001

The state of Utah now has a “Porn Czar” whose job it is to make sure that state’s citizens are not exposed to “obscene” materials. A 41-year-old reputed virgin has been selected to scrutinize, judge, and censor books, magazines, videos, movies, art, and Internet content. Materials that violate “community standards” regarding sexual attitudes and behavior (as well as how other bodily functions are portrayed) are to be banned. Of course, in Utah any “community standard” is a Mormon standard. Thus, the new porn czar’s job is to enforce Mormon orthodoxy on all the state’s citizens.

 … Continue reading →

April 2001

Most of us have probably, at sometime, tabulated (or tried to estimate!) how many people we've had sex with. Adolescents tally conquests with buddies, sitcom characters speculate on each others totals, and some sex hounds even log each new conquest with precision.

But whenever guys gossip about numbers, a definitional problem arises: what counts as "sex"? Everyone agrees that dick-in-pussy counts. Gay guys obviously consider dick-in-ass as sex, but some hetero guys think buttfucking isn't "sex." Most, but not all, gay guys would count blowjobs, but lots of straight guys think hummers a substitute for the real… Continue reading →

March 2001

Why didn't Al Gore slam dunk George Bush in the last presidential election? As vice-president, Gore inherited a seemingly invincible political legacy: the country was enjoying unparalleled prosperity, and the new uni-polar world order signaled that the past decade of (relative) American peace could be extended indefinitely. Furthermore, Gore's opponent was a demonstrably ignorant, nationally inexperienced stooge of big money and beholden to the Religious Right.

How did the election turn out to be so close that Bush– with a little help from his brother, the governor of Florida– could actually win? And given the blatant injustice… Continue reading →

February 2001

As a presidential candidate, Bill Clinton sought political gain by flying home to Arkansas to oversee the execution of prisoners. As president, he reiterated his support for state killings, again seeking political advantage by being seen as a leader willing to throw the switch. It comes as no surprise, then, that Clinton will not be remembered as a friend of civil liberties.

President Clinton endorsed new censorship laws and enacted Draconian punishments for those who offend standards of "decency." He fought to require telecommunications manufacturers to make Internet and telephone snooping easy and to ban privacy-ensuring encryption… Continue reading →

January 2001

Many gay publications are eager to tout the upscale demographics of their supposed readership. Moneyed readers not only appeal to advertisers, but also– in some minds– confer respectability to magazines and newspapers otherwise "compromised" by their gay identity.

Here at The Guide, we value all our readers, of course. But we are particularly proud that we reach hundreds of prisoners. Some incarcerated readers simply want outside contact (for all sorts of reasons) through their pen pals ads. But many report that The Guide gets passed around to dozens of inmates and is read voraciously. Though a… Continue reading →