What about the crap in the paper that I have to see 364 days of the year during my morning cup of coffee? Do you see me whining about it? 🙂 Oh, that’s right, I’m part of a minority in this country, so I don’t count. More Letters to the Editor:
Promoting immorality
I was both surprised and dismayed when I saw the front page of the Oct. 21 Life, etc. section. To publish an article dealing with problems of acceptance encountered by gays in the community is one matter, but publishing a photo of two gay men on a bed together (legs entwined) is quite another. It seems to me that someone had an agenda to promote and your newspaper helped them to accomplish that goal. Or could it be that you also have an agenda to promote?
As a Christian, I believe in loving and respecting all people. However, I also believe the gay lifestyle is morally wrong. Statistics affirm that an overwhelming majority of Americans feel the same way. I am sure I speak for many in our area when I say I do not appreciate having such a lifestyle thrust in my face as I try to enjoy my morning coffee.
Tom Brown
Louisburg
Showing difference
I was dismayed to see the Oct. 22 People’s Forum letters regarding the previous day’s Life, etc. section story and photo. One reader said it was offensive. A parent asked how he could discuss the photo with his teenage son, or even why he should have to.
I applaud The N&O for taking a daring stance by showing a photograph of reality, a photograph that, regardless of what intolerant and single-minded readers believe, actually discusses what life is like for a large segment of our population.
A reader unwilling to discuss reality with his teenage son shows a much more frightening picture than the newspaper could ever print. I would like to thank you for (hopefully) forcing some myopic individuals to answer what should not be uncomfortable questions, and won’t be, once Americans learn that different isn’t necessarily evil.
Christopher Berg
Raleigh
Agenda-promoting
A large photo of two homosexual men looking cozy and happy on their bed! How far will you go in openly promoting the agenda of homosexuals?
It may be a shock, but most people in this community still find homosexuality to be morally wrong. How dare you provide free, oh-so-positive advertising for the homosexual lifestyle? I’m sure the small percentage of your readership which is homosexual is tickled pink over the picture. Many of the rest decided they weren’t hungry for breakfast after all.
Traci Griggs
Raleigh
The message
I suspect that the source of the “disturbing” feelings generated by the photograph of two gay men relaxing at home was how very normal it looked. The image of two people lovingly enjoying one another’s company makes gays seem just like straights. What a radical idea that gays are not “them” but are “us.”
Kathy M. Shipp
Moncure
What they’re doing
Thanks for an excellent and thoughtful article in the Oct. 21 Life, etc. section, on the subject of the uncomfortableness some people have in acknowledging that someone is gay.
For those who wrote letters concerned about what to tell children who saw the photo with the article of two men in a committed relationship, fully clothed on a bed, spending a quiet morning together, please let’s be honest with our children and tell them the truth: The two men are reading.
That’s what my parents told me couples do in bed.
Gaston Williams
Durham
We went to the Fair at about 2:00. We got a great parking spot right on the corner of Hillsborough and Blue Ridge, just this side of the train tracks.
Let’s see if we can list what we ate (this is between two of us, I’ll let you guess who ate what): Italian Sausage Sandwich; Polish Sausage Sandwich; ribbon fries; fried dough with apples, powdered sugar, and cinnamon; deep-fried banana with a banana pudding dip; and a chopped BBQ and slaw sandwich.
We left at about 3:00, and sat for a half-hour at the corner of Hillsborough and Blue Ridge because the train blocking Blue Ridge had come to a complete stop. After about a half-hour Robert walked over to a reporter on the scene and asked him what he knew.
The train is a 3-mile train — a quarter of a mile to the left, and the rest to the right. Cars (fair-goers) are parked too close to the tracks, and they are having to tow them. There’s no estimate as to how long it will be.
We walked toward the quarter of a mile end of the train, walked around the last car to the other side and back toward our car. We were almost back to our great parking spot when the train started to move.
Believe it or not, after all that, we were going to stop at A&W on Western Blvd, and get Root Beer Floats, but by the time we got on Method Road, we changed our minds. Such restraint.
We’re going to Flex later tonight. It’s Rodney Smith’s going away party. He’s moving to Florida.
We went to CCs after Flex, where I saw Rob, and chatted with him for a little bit. He told me that Rosalie had seen my picture in the paper, as did Doris and Joye. He said he also sent a copy to Debbie.
We (me, Robert, Joe) went to an after-hours party, but basically went in, used the bathroom, and left.