LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Speak Out |
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-SteeleLetters 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. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 12, No. 07, June 14, 2002. |