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In
spite of polls showing that the majority of Delawareans support HB99 and a
vote for it on the Senate floor, opponents are doing their best to
convince the Senate Small
Business Committee members to
hold the bill. In particular, Harris
McDowell, a co-sponsor of the bill, has been targeted.
Please
make sure that opposing voices are not the only ones heard by calling
Senator McDowell and your own state senator and telling them that you as a
voter want to see the bill released, voted on, and passed into law.
Senator McDowell can be reached by calling the Senate Democrats’ office
at 302-744-4286.
To
find out who your senator is, call your County Department of Elections.
Your support is key to ensuring equal rights in Delaware!
The
ACLU-DE Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights Project
To
all from CAMP Rehoboth who helped the Rainbow Chorale launch our first
full-scale performance in Rehoboth...thank you very much.
The
experience was noteworthy. Despite the small turnout, the concert was a
success in our opinion. We hope to perform annually in Rehoboth for the
coming years. In fact, I sincerely hope Rehoboth launches a gay, lesbian,
or gay/lesbian chorale of its own in the future.
Best
wishes this season, and again, thanks to all who made this vision a
reality.
If
anyone wishes to be put on the Rainbow Chorale “friends” email list,
contact me at peterson@udel.edu. The list is used to announce concerts and
the gay/lesbian film series that we run plus other items of general
interest.
Larry
Peterson, VP Development, Rainbow Chorale of Delaware
In
reading four of the articles in the May 31st edition (Fay’s, Marc’s,
Eric’s, and Stephen’s), I was struck by a common theme, telling the
personal side of a gay person’s story. I suspect most gay and lesbian
people want to share their life’s high and low points, but have very
little opportunity, aside from our close personal friends and partners.
Thanks
to Letters, many readers can read and identify with common incidents that
we have endured ourselves. Gay men over 50 can all relate to the lack of
easily identifiable gay role models when we were young adults. Many of us
got married, had children, and then “uncloseted” ourselves, wondering
“what if” we had come out in our youth?
While
I am sometimes envious of today’s openness for those growing up, I am
still very cognizant of the latent homophobia in many workplaces and in
many social settings. The Rehoboth area is a wonderful exception to the
norm, and Letters makes it even more so.
Phil
Fretz
I
am writing to request your assistance in a project that is near to my
heart, a novel I am writing that will be set in Rehoboth Beach. Its
protagonist is a University of Delaware student around the age of 21 who
moves to the beach for the summer with her roommate. They both work
retail, go to too many parties, and try out different versions of
themselves in their first months of real adult freedom. The protagonist,
Edith, finds comfort and insight in a character not yet named.
I
intend to write the unnamed character as gay, and yet I am not a
homosexual, and am afraid I may slip into stereotype or condescension
without meaning to. I’m hoping I can open communication as a way of
educating myself to the real life joys and struggles of gay men living in
Rehoboth Beach. The novel will not be about being gay in Rehoboth Beach,
but the unnamed character, who holds the key to my protagonist’s growth,
will be gay.
To
put you at ease, I was born and raised in Sussex County, and was an award
winning journalist in the area for years. Currently I am enrolled as a
Masters student at Ohio’s Miami University.
I
am seeking to make this book as informed and authentic as possible, and am
seeking as much help as I can get.
I
am open to any and all suggestions. I can be reached via e-mail at
Glayton800@aol.com.
Greg
Layton
We
unequivocally deplore those priests who prey upon children and adolescents
and fully support a one-strike-you’re-out policy. The bishops who allow
the rapes to occur should likewise be deposed. Moreover these felons and
their abettors should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
But
is there a broader lesson to be learned? Definitely! When people are not
in tune with their sexuality, or believe that sex per se is sinful, or
believe that their homosexual orientation is somehow “wrong”, they are
heading for disaster.
Such
people will usually find it impossible to become self-actualized or to
relate with love and compassion to others. Some sexually repressed people
become pedophiles as we have seen; others may develop substance abuse or
addictions to promiscuity or pornography. Anti-gay hatred and violence are
often committed by those who cannot face questions about their own
sexuality.
Our
heterosexual or homosexual orientations are God-given gifts to each of us.
We can refuse those gifts or allow legislators or religious leaders to
lead us down the self-loathing, anti-life paths they have chosen-but we do
so to our own unhappiness and the peril of those around us.
Douglas
and Corey Marshall-Steele
Letters
should be addressed to Editor, Letters
from CAMP Rehoboth, 39 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth, DE 19971, or
e-mail: editor@camprehoboth.com.
Include your name and phone number for verification. Letters may be edited
for length and clarity.
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