ju s t out ▼ October 17, 1097 ▼ 3
letters
W hat about us?
To the Editor:
As a gay teenager life is quite difficult. I’m
trying my best to fit in, dealing with homophobic
negativity and people who don’t understand. I’m
not writing to you to bicker and complain, though.
1 see your articles are geared to older homo
sexuals. Most of my friends are teens, and we
would like to see you get more involved in teen
age homosexuality. A lot of us gay teens are quite
afraid to come out. We could use a good resource
and guidance to give gay teens the message that
it’s OK to be gay.
Otherwise I love your magazine, and I hope to
see it succeed.
Eric Moe
Portland
Editor’s note: We appreciate your comments. We
luive recently started using articles from The
Rainbow Writers Group, which is a syndicate o f
queer youth who write on a variety o f topics o f
importance and interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transsexual and questioning youth. As a
thirtysomething lesbian Eve found the articles
interesting, too.
Hype and hogwash
To the Editor:
The new hit movie In & Out has been Holly-
wood-ized within an inch of its life, desperately
trying to make us gay people palatable for the
mainstream with cheap, cutsie gags and stock
stereotypes. I chuckled a couple of times, but
overall I felt really let down. I expected a smart
comedy that poked insightful, good-natured fun
at gay and straight people alike, but for the most
part the movie was just really, really dumb.
I mean, what planet are these people on? They
look human, but it sure isn’t planet Earth. Com
edy is so much better when it springs from real
characters and at least semi-believable situations,
with some wit attached, rather than from card
board cutout idiots.
Plus, I’m so tired of being portrayed as less
than “normal” in film and on television. I know
that African Americans have suffered through the
same process, but how far do we finally have to
come before we can learn from past mistakes, get
over ourselves and treat the world with fairness
and openness? We are all people, regardless of
race or religion or sex or orientation.
Better humor can be found in genuine human
situations and emotions, gay and straight, than
going for what is cheap, offensive, insulting or
demeaning.
I also had a major problem with the “hmm, I
never thought of it before but maybe I am gay”
angle. It was confusing and absurd. There was no
attempt at all to make some sense of this gay
man’s situation for the audience. Even a one- or
two-line explanation, like, “I realize I’ve been
repressing it all these years; I’ve been fooling
myself, too,” would have helped.
Bottom line, In & Out is just more overhyped
Hollywood crapola. Some say it’s a sign of
progress that a film with a gay theme like this was
even made, much less became a No. 1 hit, but I
say, “What a disappointment.”
What a lost opportunity to make a truly good
and funny film.
William C. Stosine
Via e-mail
BIRTHS
W elcom e to the w orld
Alicia and Charity Sypher announce the birth
of their first child, Hanalyn Grace Sypher.
Hanalyn was born Sept. 25 at 1:58 pm in
Portland.
CORRECTION
The cover story for the Oct. 3 issue, “Teaching
by Example,” was inadvertently published with
out a byline. The article was written by Inga
Sorensen.
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