Letters to the Editor
Diversity
in Marriage?
Today's NYTimes says that Bush plans a 1.5
billion dollar effort to protect "Sexual Diversity in Marriage"
- that is, of course, not what he calls it. But I think this is what we
should start calling it. It is clear that if the federal government is
going to spend that much on this campaign against gay marriage, sexually
diverse marriage must be in real trouble. Can you imagine anything that
a relatively small batch of homosexuals who want to get married could
do to the vaunted institution that would be worthy of a 1.5 billion dollar
tax-supported expenditure?
And, if Bush figures (as I do) that 10 percent
of that tax supported funding comes from queer pocket books in the first
place, this certainly is an interesting way to go into his election campaign.
I think it is time for queers to start a
$100,000-plus campaign to get out the word that every queer in the nation
must come out to everyone close to them. This would help make sure people
who might press their representatives to vote for funding Bush's pro-heterosexual
marriage bill to vote on the other side of this issue.
I guess my normally fairly apolitical self
is becoming a whole lot more political as this man from Texas plays out
all his cards. I guess what angers me the most is that he thinks he has
a mandate to do all this stuff. Hopefully the folks who voted against
him in the 2000 race will remember in November 2004 that the majority
voted for an entirely different outlook.
Bob Wolff
Randolph
Make the
Call
Over 70 percent of Vermonters support medical
marijuana. Governor Douglas does not. His excuse is that it is illegal
at the federal level. Reimportation of prescription drugs is illegal at
the federal level, too, but because something is illegal does not mean
that it is wrong. It was illegal to help slaves escape to freedom, yet
many helped. It was illegal for Rosa Parks to sit in the front of the
bus, yet she did.
We need to take the moral high ground, we
need compassion for the sickest Vermonters, and we need to tell Governor
Douglas that he should help S.76 pass through the House and sign it when
it reach[es] his desk. Please, call the Governor at 1-800-649-6825.
Hardy Machia
Grand Isle
Care About Language
I was very pleased to see reviews of New
Victoria Publishers' three new books in the January Out In The Mountains.
New Victoria is one of the few lesbian publishing houses left, as so many
lesbian / feminist publishers and bookstores have closed their doors in
the last three or four years. We rely on these reviews to get the word
out about our books.
I feel I need to respond, however, to the
reviewer's comments that we underestimate the intelligence of our readers,
or that we don't care about language. The copy of Sudden Loss of Serenity
she received was what we call a "pre-pub copy" - an uncorrected
proof we send out a few months before the book actually goes to the press.
Many large review media require these, and won't review the book if it
is already published. I am sorry if that was not made clear to this reviewer.
Although we are small and undercapitalized,
we can afford to pay a proofreader. The typos will certainly be corrected
by the time the book goes to press.
Beth Dingman
New Victoria Publisher
Norwich
The publicity sheet we got with the book indicated an October 2003
release date, and since it was about that time we got the book, we assumed
it was the finished product - hence the shock at the number of typos.
The book was not marked as an uncorrected proof. Thanks for the explanation.
- Ed.
Correction
Because the source was confused, so were we, but the R.U.1.2? annual fundraising
dinner featuring NGLTF director Matt Foreman is on Saturday, April 10,
not on Easter Sunday.