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Let’s Take Pride Back

Dear Editor,

I, like [Dana Miller], have attempted to offer advice and assistance to Rodney Scott and the [CSW] board, only to be rebuffed and told that everything was “under control.” Scott and the board have proven time and again that they will not listen to complaints from the community and will continue to do the same thing year after year. Since Scott was given the position of president of CSW—let me stress the word given—L.A. Gay Pride has stagnated.

I just took a look at their website, www.lapride.org, and I noticed that the most recent financial information posted is from 2006. Weren't they directed to post 2007's information immediately after last year's Pride? [Taking a] look at the financial pie chart they have posted for revenue, if you actually crunch the numbers for their figure of 41 percent of revenue generated from ticket sales, it comes out to about 25,000 tickets, yet they claim over 100,000 people actually attend. Where exactly is the system of checks-and-balances?

I would like to see Rodney Scott politely retire, and a real search made for someone qualified to take L.A. Pride where it needs to go.

RJ DiCamillo
via Internet

Dear Editor,
I have lived in L.A. (two blocks from WeHo) for almost five years. During that period, I have watched the Pride parade with embarrassment and shock due to [its poor] quality. This town does such an amazing job developing and producing movies and television but [can’t put on] a Pride parade. I look at the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Doo Dah Parade in Pasadena and know it can been done.

One of the things that is so great about the gay community is how we have grown and evolved. I am 44 years old and respect all that the leaders of the gay cause have done. Those leaders would want us to continue to strive for excellence in everything we do, but these Pride parades have been everything but excellent.

Gregg Hall,
via Internet

Dear Editor,

I have been thinking about the idea of Gay Prides and, while I enjoy seeing semi-naked men on a float, I have thought for quite a long time that this [perpetuates] how the media portray us—bearded drag queens, dykes on bikes and assless chaps. We have struggled to become “mainstreamed” for years. Now that we have become, to a certain extent, “mainstreamed,” we are losing our distinction. I don’t think most of us know how to handle that because, on the one hand, we want to be accepted and on the other, Pride is an important thing to us. I think that finding a way to celebrate our increased acceptance and our distinction may be the stepping stone to Pride [striking] a[n appropriate] balance.

Marc McMillin
via Internet

Condolences for King
Dear Editor

Your coverage of the cold-blooded, savage murder of 15-year-old student, Lawrence King [Issue 11.01, “Who Killed Lawrence King”], caused me to feel deep sorrow and rage.

While I offer condolences to King’s classmates, friends and loved ones, I also offer condolences to all GLBT individuals who, while physically alive, have had their souls murdered by a homophobic, ignorant, superstitious, fanatically religious, self-righteous society.

Gilbert A. Rubio
San Diego

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