srparedon – editorials (archive)

October 2000

Allowed to compete freely with alternative theories, truth has an advantage. Incomplete understanding or the prejudices of the age may temporarily obscure truth, but when inquiry is unfettered, when dogma receives no subsidy in the form of punishment for dissenters, truth prevails.

Recognizing this enduring resilience of truth is part of the classic defense for freedom of expression. Freedom's advocates also note the inherent dangers of enforced "truth." Institutions and individuals, even if well-meaning, who exert their power to "protect" truth by suppressing dissent inevitably end up defending dogma. The Catholic Church may have been able to… Continue reading →

September 2000

Remember Dick Armey, the US House of Representatives Majority Leader who caused a stir in 1995 by calling openly gay Representative Barney Frank "Barney Fag"? Armey claimed then that he intended no slur, that "fag" was simply the slip of a tongue trying to say "Frank." No one bought his feeble excuse; his comment, however unintentional, was rightly judged as revealing that he thought of all homosexuals, congressmen included, as fags. Given his ultra conservative ideology, it was fair to label Armey's Freudian slip as homophobic– when right-wing zealots call someone a fag, it is not a… Continue reading →

August 2000

"What an idiot!" was one HIV researcher's response when contacted for The Guide's July 2000 story on South African President Thabo Mbeki's AIDS policies.

That scientist's reaction is common. Mbeki has invited those who claim HIV is not the cause of AIDS to government-sponsored panel discussions. He has repeatedly asserted that European and North American models for controlling AIDS do not make sense in an African context. As a result, in much of the Western press he has been painted both as a fool who has been duped by paranoid charlatans, and as an opportunist exploiting bad… Continue reading →

July 2000

In 1985, Bernard Baran, then 19, was convicted of multiple rapes of three-, four-, and five-year-old boys and girls at the Massachusetts daycare center where he worked. Sentenced to three concurrent life terms, he has been incarcerated ever since. In prison, Baran has been beaten, sexually assaulted, and suffered all the torments routinely visited on “skinners” (convicts serving time for sex offenses). He has legitimately feared for his life.

But Baran has survived. And he has steadfastly maintained that he is innocent, even though “admitting” his guilt would be his only chance for release.

 … Continue reading →

June 2000

Boyd McDonald, the great chronicler of homosexuality, once noted, "I don't consider any gay publications that don't deal with the elemental discussion of gay sexual desire to be serious– I consider them shallow and frivolous. Those that specialize in reviews of paintings, the ballet, the theater, the books– no matter how lovely the reviews– have nothing to do with basic homosexuality." Boyd understood that de-sexing the gay press (either to appease straight sensibilities or to attract advertising dollars) renders it irrelevant. Our fundamental message is about sex; gay publications that don't challenge prevailing sexphobias might as well be… Continue reading →

May 2000

A hate monger who must be silenced– that's how many gay groups and individuals label talk radio's Laura Schlessinger, a.k.a. Dr. Laura. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), stopdrlaura.com, and dozens of gay publications and organizations have mounted campaigns to have radio stations pull the plug on Dr. Laura and to demand Paramount Studios retract plans to launch a Dr. Laura television show.

What has triggered such concerted efforts to muzzle Dr. Laura? Why have so many gay people been willing to sign on to crusades to have her silenced?

Part of the reason… Continue reading →