Proud

The biographies of the 2001 Houston pride marshals were absolutely wonderful! (June OutSmart) And, as the person who nominated the male and female marshals, I would like to say that you have captured quite remarkably the reasons why I chose to nominate Dalia and Mitchell for the honors in the first place.

Pokey Anderson’s profile of Dalia Stokes was especially well done. I found it extremely interesting to see the result of two of our community’s female political powerhouses coming together for an interview. Pokey’s outdone herself with this one! It’s a fascinating look both at Dalia and at the very real effects of political activism on our community’s quality of life.

John Stiles’ profile of Mitchell Katine left me laughing, just as Mitchell himself usually does. And now I have a whole new mental image of Mitchell–as a forlorn youth, expelled from class, singing "Where is love?" on the school steps! That’s priceless.

And finally, Roger Donley’s profile of Blake and Gordon Weisser was a perfect reflection of our community’s surrogate grandparents. For those of us who find only rejection from our families, it’s wonderful to have people like the Weissers who help us realize that not all families are like our families. And that we are capable of being loved and accepted, just the way we are. I revel in the thought of Blake Weisser taking on Jesse Helms . . . heh . . . I’ll bet he didn’t know what hit him, until it was over.

Thanks, OutSmart–you always get it right!
Brandon Wolf
Houston, Texas

I just picked up the June issue. You should be real proud. I thank you for such great coverage of the Pride Committee, and just your general coverage of the state of Pride in Houston.

Jack Valinski
Executive director, Pride Committee of Houston

Not Proud

My name is Aaron Coleman. I am a gay, African-American poet, musician-songwriter, and performance artist. As one of the three featured poets in the current gay pride guide Pride.01, I wanted to take this opportunity to take you, collectively, to task. In your June edition of OutSmart, you feature interviews of the community at large, under the moniker of "Pictures of Pride." Out of the 84 persons you interviewed, only three were black, and they were males, representing less than 4 percent of the total persons interviewed. This is hardly representative of the theme of Gay Pride 2001, which is "Embrace Diversity." Your anticipated response of this being an oversight is totally unacceptable. Once, yet again, the majority has seen fit to disrespect a sizable and vital constituent of the gay community; and not one black lesbian is represented. I find it disgraceful. It’s one thing to preach diversity and entirely another to practice it! And all this in the fourth-largest city in the United States!

Aaron Coleman
Houston

As a member of this community I sometimes wonder if we are all reading from the page when speaking of diversity, so let’s start with the actual definition of this year’s slogan for pride:

"em·brace (m-br s ): To clasp or hold close with the arms, usually as an expression of affection. To include as part of something broader. See Synonyms at include. To take up willingly or eagerly: embrace a social cause."

"di·ver·si·ty (d -vûr s -t , d -): The fact or quality of being diverse; difference. A point or respect in which things differ. A state of difference; dissimilitude; unlikeness."

Now knowing the conveying fundamental character of each, this one gay man asks to each person who reads this how much inclusion of diversity do you see in this gay community?

If anything it’s more separatist now more than ever. There has not been a real pride parade in a good while–the parades now are more like endless advertisements instead of a celebration of our diverse selves.

Being gay today is almost like being at the Gap or Starbucks: There is one on every corner and a certain uniformity which leaves no room for the individuality we seek to celebrate. It’s ironic, really, the power of inclusion is so intoxicating that this community has become like every other community–a target market

Amazing. [Although] we’ve lobbied for equal rights, fair treatment, and discrimination laws, this individual believes wholly before we can ask this of others it must first come from within this community.

Name Withheld
Houston

Incinerating Our Activists

I am writing in response to Paula Martinac’s article: "Activists Ablaze: Burning commitment? Burned-out is more like it." (LeftOut, June OutSmart) I have been an activist for more than 20 years and had the opportunity to work on the staffs of both the Human Rights Campaign and PFLAG National in Washington, D.C. My response to those who question the inability of our organizations to retain experienced and talented staff is threefold.

First, as a nonprofit professional, I am aware of the sad truth that nearly all nonprofits experience a higher turnover rate than for-profits. This is due mostly to unreasonable long working hours and even more unreasonable pay. Toss in the limited availability (if offered at all) of real benefits, such as insurance, EAP programs, disability, etc., and you have a recipe for turnover.

Second, and harder to say for diplomatic reasons (!), is that too often our organizations select leaders and make decisions based on personalities rather than sound principles. While it is often true in many workplaces that who you know is more important than what you know or can contribute, it seems to have been raised to an art form within our community.

Third, and finally, there exists among many minority communities the irrational need to "kill our wounded," as an old saying does. Losing sight of the big picture and the immense resources of our opponents, too often internal bickering and backstabbing sabotage real progress and results.

Toss in what appears to be a lack of willingness to take stock of mistakes and weaknesses, an exaggerated focus on sound bites, big money, and photo ops, and you have a recipe for running off good people. Will these things change? I hope so. In the meantime, I continue trying to do my part via the Internet, faxes, e-mails, organizing locally, and personal contributions when I can.

Thank you for OutSmart–keep up the good work!
Jeffrey B. Garrett
North Manchester, IN

DIFFA-rant Strokes

Just a quick note to say I saw the advertisement for DIFFA (June OutSmart) and I thought that it was a great picture and tastefully done. I support DIFFA and think it’s a great organization and have enjoyed the way executive director Rodney Honerkamp has handled the local office here in Houston. Thank you, OutSmart for having Blendorama advertised in your magazine and to the individual who talked to Rodney Honerkampto get it there.

R. Garza
Houston

Pleased with Pokey

I especially enjoyed reading "Rebels & Survivors" by Pokey Anderson ("The life stories from four of our lesbian ‘ancesters,’" March OutSmart). Just now catching up on my reading and was fascinated by this article. Please encourage her to write more stories for your publication.

Russ Byrd
Houston