Letters to the Editor: Mike Davis wrote about dark subjects, but he was full of light.
I have spent many hours in the past few days with a former colleague, now a writer whose work has appeared in mainstream publications across the world, and he brought up a subject that deserves attention, but that we in the mainstream press have ignored.
His story, one that has played out in real time – or as I like to think of it, as though it were a work of fiction – is of a young man who had to suffer the indignity of being humiliated and mocked in public due to his sexuality.
I must admit that I am one of his biggest advocates in this matter. He is a terrific young man who deserves to be treated with the compassion and sensitivity he deserves.
Nevertheless, I must point out that the article in question, which I have not had an opportunity to read, makes this very clear. Here is the paragraph in question:
“On June 11, 2010, the evening of the premiere of the “Dancing with the Stars” episode, there was a group of gay men at the Gay City Times bookstore near the New York Public Library. It was a beautiful June night, the sun was shining, and the air was crisp and cool. About 20 gay men were sitting in chairs on the brick pavement outside the store, waiting for the gay barbershop to open. While waiting, they chatted with each other about the upcoming episode, how their friends were voting, whether or not the man and his partner made the final dance, and whether or not the couple had won the competition.
“Some people came over to talk, and at one point, one of the gay men said the word ‘homosexual,” drawing laughter from the audience.”
The way that last sentence is written, you can practically hear the crowd laugh.
One of my dear friends, who was the gay editor for the New York Times at the time, told me that a photographer, who was the managing editor of the Sunday Business section, got up and walked over to the two men who had just been speaking with one another.
“Mr. Smith,
