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Turner/CNN Focus on Down Side of Pride Day Mr. Ed Turner Executive Vice-President Cable News Network One CNN Center Post Office Box 105366 Atlanta, Georgia 30348 Dear Mr. Turner I am writing in regards to your coverage of Gay Pride Day on June 26th, in hopes that in the future you will be more sensitive and objective in dealing with an area which is of great importance to millions in the United States and throughout the world. The main objection I have to the Jeff Weiscr report was the undue time given representatives of homophobic counter demonstrators. More than 500,000 gays and lesbians marched on that day all over the country. The New York march, the one your report focused on, involved more than 100.000 people. The demonstrators, whose hatred and lies you gave so much time to, totalled roughly twenty. (See New York Times 06-27-88, p. 14.) The numbers alone tell the importance of what these people were saying. But, did you listen to their words? The "anti-gay" groups, as they were called in one of your introductions, spread dangerous misinformation about AIDS. They even asked that all gays be deported! Their words are the kind that help make life a tale of horror for people struck by AIDS. If this march had involved 100,000 blacks and twenty Ku Klux Kian members had shouted demands for the deportation of blacks-or if the KKK had screamed, for instance, that blacks are responsible for all the crime in America-would you have given their remarks the respectability you afforded bigoted anti-gay remarks on your piece about Gay Pride Day? I hope in the future you will keep tfiis in mind when reporting on the ten to fifteen percent of the American population who are lesbians and gay men. Sincerely, Pat Walker Shame Not the Issue for People with AIDS To the Editor: I am writing in response to Dave Hayward's article entitled "New Age Leader Puts the Blame on Shame" that ran in the June 23rd edition of Southern Voice. As a person with AIDS Related Complex, I find the views put forth by Gary Bonnclle very offensive. In the article he is quoted as saying "Shame or the lack of love is the cause of AIDS, not anything else." I feel he is drawing inaccurate conclusions from the evidence he puts forth. I know that it does not apply in my case. In the article, Mr. Bonnclle states that "Most of the men that I've talked to who have AIDS in their candidness will say, 'I have never felt OK about me'." Two points here. First, while there was a period in my life that I "did not feel OK about me" at the time I was diagnosed I felt quite at ease with my sexuality and where my life was going on several other levels. Second, when any person is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness it often prompts them to do an intensive self-evaluation of their own life. Life is no longer taken for granted. I would suspect that most people in the world have something they "don’t feel OK about," yet these problems do not surface as long as life is going along fine. Faced with any serious problem these feelings will reveal themselves. I have worked with many people with AIDS and feel that AIDS causes these feelings to awaken, not that these feelings cause AIDS, as Mr. Bonnclle suggests. Mr. Bonnelle's approach may do much more harm than good People who feel that they are to blame for their illness are often the hardest for other people to help. I know this from experience. Perhaps that is why Mr. Bonnclle takes this approach. Built in job security. If he keeps his clients in a state of self-deprecation, they will continually need counseling. Mr. Bonnelle's approach is an attitude that PWAs often encounter. Many people who do not have AIDS are continually looking for ways that separate themselves from people who do. They may tell themselves that the reason that their friend has AIDS and they do not is that they are a better person, someone who has no reason to feel shame. This may eliminate their guilt, but at whose expense? I encourage all people to not buy into this us/them attitude. This society as a whole has AIDS. Let's begin to deal with it, instead of trying to rationalize iL Sincerely, Kurds J. Rahn Director, Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA) Lesbians in the Lead To the Editor For the past few issues I have written about what we, as a community, should be doing, should not be doing, and how we aren't doing enough. This letter is devoted to a group of individuals who are politically active as well as community-minded. The group to which I am referring is our gay sisters, the Lesbians. Every time I attend a function for any type of gay political action, it is attended by more gay women than men. Most of the time, it was planned by lesbians, executed by lesbians, and hosted by lesbians. It seems that every successful gay political group is headed by a lesbian (the Atlanta Gay Center is not, but I said successful). I have been told that this is an outgrowth of the feminist movement, however, personally that statement sounds like an excuse for our (gay men's) failure to act. Whether an outgrowth or not, the lesbian community certainly has done more than their share for the cause. What is surprising to me, is that so many of the AIDS projects are led by lesbians. I say surprising, because of all the possible victims - gay or straight - lesbians are the least likely to contract the disease. Does this slow them down? Not for a moment The 26 hour AIDS vigil was not only planned and hosted by a lesbian, but the majority of the attendees were lesbians. And it doesn't stop there. Lesbians collect food for PWAs in need and many of the fund-raisers are successful, because of lesbian donations. Both the AIDS cause and PWAs would be much worse off were it not for the selfless actions of our gay sisters. To this group of outstanding ladies, I offer my heartfelt appreciation and admiration. We would all be much closer to the closet were it not for your courage, determination, and perseverance. I hope that we, your gay brothers, learn from you. May we begin not only to care as much, but to take action as well. Ladies, my thanks! Sincerely, L. Jeffrey Davis SO, THAT'S »N THE. HEAD- LIMES TONIGHT, glOAJA g THE ARMY 'S WELL TACTIC TO TftAtKj ^jScROlTS /AO &OOT CAMP IT'S CAU-EO OAOMNfMS TWfc [COOPTS HAVE RUC.EO THAT MOMOS&XM4& CAMMoT &Aftft£u FRoAA. 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Sr s ^y No iewpoints is part of a continuing effort to provide a forum for our community. /e invite your ideas, comments and feelings and your responses to ideas expressed i thic cr\or>o The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Southern Voice. Submissions should be typed, double spaced and no longer than four pages. Mail to: Southern Voice/Viewpoints PO Box 54719 Atlanta, Georgia 30308 This issue of Southern Voice is dedicated in loviny memory to John Hushiny Howell. Page 5