Gays only want the rig ht to live, work

Those who say that gays want to
flaunt their lifestyle with Measures
A and B don't understand a gay's
position in the workplace.
As a gay man, I am faced with

straight eo-workers and

bosses

talking about their lifestyles, which
is OK by me.
Problems arise when inquiries
are rhade into my sexual lifestyle
- inquiries I don't initiate. I am

continually asked

if I

have

a

"chick," am I married, how would
I like to score with that sexy girl
walking down the hall?
Opponents to A and B eneourage
me to lie and deceive my friends
and co-workers by staying in the
closet. If I am truthful. thev sav I
--. untarr!
am tlauntmg
my ute
A.and B recognize that sexual
matters are anything but private
in the real world and promote a
society whers honesty and fairness
are valued over deceit and Cateh22 morality.
open and honest society. Let's bury

ffi

-

Ben Sbarbaro
San Jose

A May 10 letter from Paul L.
Graves on Measures A and B

states that "they (homosexuals) are

the ones who have made this

a

public issue."
He must have a very short memory. Back in 1977, State Sen. John
Briggs came back from eampaigning in Florida with Anita Bryant

and announced a witch-hunt
against gay pedple and their

friehds in California. Many of us
were shocked out of our complacency at this attack on our civil
liberties and realized the need for
protection.

We were shocked again in 1.978
when the San Jose City Council reversed its vote for a resolution rec-

ognizing "Gay Human Rights

Week," and our opponents put out
an arrogant press release stating
that they would not tolerate gay
people "on our stre,ets or in our
neighborhoods, nou) or in the fut1lre." That convinced a lot of us

that our opponents wanted something more than to practice their
own religious beliefs.
The so-called "Motal Majority"

said in a recent campaign mailing
that, "State Senator John Briggs
made a valiant effort in 1978 to
halt the hornosexual malignancy
with his statewide referendum."
Briggs also promised in 1978 to
bring back his anti-gay initiative
for another try. The effort to block
Measures A & B is a first step. A
"yes" vote will nip his demagogic
ambitions in the bud.
- David K. Treadwell
sanJose

n
In response to the two letters
headed "Gays Force Their Life-

style on the Godly," the writers obviously believe that the heterosexual is the "godly" person while the
homosexual is the "ungodly" one.
The Bible tells us that God created all humanity in His own image and likeness, which makes all
people, regardless of their sexual
orientation, "godly" people.
"Ungodliness" is manifested bY
bigotry and hatred, so well illustrated by these two letters.
- Father Thomas,R.. Bettencourt
San Jose

discrimination and are often at the
bottom of the heap economically.
Add to this fact the percentage of
lesbian mothers who do "have family obligations," and the overail
picture looks quite different.

I

can understand the temPtation

of gay male magazine publishers
to brag about the affluence and
"discretionary income" of their
readers - how better to attract

advertisers to support the publication? But to use these statistics as
representative of gay men an9
women as a whole makes as much
sense.as using PlayboY readers to
stereotype the heterosexual population.
Carol Cramell

Gays are not attempting to
foree their way of life on anyone
else.
A and B will
are
Nobody has ever found a Passage in the Bible that reads: "Thou

shalt discriminate against those
who are different from yourself."
As a matter of fact, the Bible

teaches just the opposite.

-IVliguer

I am a gay woman responding to
the May 10 letter from Paul L..

-Richard

Graves.. He quotes from the mid:

dle-class, gay, male publication,

The A,dvocate, to prove that "gays"

are the "most affluent of any minority."
Opponents of Measures A and B
also quote from a marketing sur.
vey apparently taken by Blueboy,
another gay male magazine, to
show how well off "gays" are economically. "Gay men have more
discretionary income because they
seldom have farnily obligations,"
says the chairman of Blueboy, Inc..
in the U.S. News & World Report.
Gay women heave a sigh and
laugh a little bitterly to themselves

when reading such statements. Gay
women
Third
- and particularly
World lesbians
- suffer multiple

^.**:El,:

W. BooherJr.

tr

The assertion that homosexuals
can be "converted" to heterosexuality is extremely dubious, but as
far as Measures A and B are concerned, the issue is a moot point.
Existing civil rights legislation
protects against discrimination on
the basis of religion, political affiliation and marital status - and
these are certainly a matter of
choice.

The underlying principle is that
these matters are nobody's business and should not be a basis of
bias in housing, employment and
government services.

5s1.44lc

t/

-DanielSanHein
Jose

Copyrighted material reprinted with permission. For educational use only.

i