Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, May 9, 2003 Page: 4 of 68
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VIEWPOINTS
214.754.8710
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Robert Moore mm* 112
Terry Thompson Mminisiratwfcst. 110
NEWS & EDITORIAL
Dennis Vercher
Senior Editor
113
Daniel A. Kusner
lifestyles Edrtor
118
David Webb
Stuff Reporter
117
Angela Geralds
Stuff Reporter
128
Arnold Wayne Jones
Features Writer
129
David Toffel
Editorial Assistant
124
Contributors-
Mekado Murphy
Features Writer
Gilbert Garcia
Pop Musk Critic
Steve Worren
Conmburing Film Critic
Andrew Collins
Iravel Features
Paula Martinet
Post Out
John Beoird
Contributor
Lawrence Ferber
Contributor
Mubarak Dahir
Cokjmrest
Michael Wilke
Columnist
Tom Kinney
Columrist
Candy Marcum
Columnist
Jennifer Voncsco
Cokjmrest
Paul Beige
Edrtonol Cortooresf
Keith N. Anderson
Cartoonist
Dave Biousseau
Cartoonist
Eric Orner
Cartoonist
Kris Conner
Photographer
Gregory Hayes
Photographer
Leo Cusimono
Advertising Director 114
Gary Karwacki
Asst. Ad Director
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Luciano Segura III
Account Rep
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Alex Bomishin
taowl Rep.
126
Greg Hoover
Classified Soles
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Tony Martinez
Classified Sales
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NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE
Rivendell Marketing Compony
212-242-6863
Lesbian Mary Cheney's silence unforgivable
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Ui, > NOT AN
W OBSESSIVE
COMPULSION
By Michael Alvear
Contributing Columnist
If you ever doubted that silence hurts more
than words, consider what the following lead-
ers have said about gay people:
Dick Armey: "Barney Fag."
Trent Lott: "Alcoholics & Kleptomaniacs."
Rick Santorum: like having "the right to
bigamy and incest."
Now compare those hateful remarks to the
following:
Mary Cheney:
Three years ago, during the 2000 presiden-
tial elections, Mary Cheney, daughter of Vice
President Dick Cheney, fell back into the closet
the way Michael Jackson's career fell into the
toilet — so completely an industrial plunger
wouldn't have brought anything up.
It was bad enough that Rick Santorum
equated same-sex love with incest. It was bad
enough that the entire Republican Party
backed him up. It was bad enough that
President Compassion thought Santorum rep-
resented the very best of conservative kind-
ness.
But nothing was as bad as Mary Cheney's
silence. Mary Cheney is every person who
watched a mugging and didn't stop it. She's
every coward who ran when thugs attacked
her friends. She's every woman who turned
away when her sisters got slapped to the
ground.
Mary Cheney is not just the very worst
within our own community; she is the very
worst within our own hearts. I once sat silent-
ly as my karate teacher told the class, "I'd kill
myself if my son turned out queer."
Like Mary, I was out of the closet. Like
Mary, I didn't stand up for myself or people
like me. Like Mary I said nothing.
For weeks I agonized over my silence, imtil
I finally got the courage to do something about
it. I confronted the teacher and asked her how
she could reconcile what she said with the sign
that hung over the class: "Respect Yourself.
Respect Others."
Mary Cheney could do the same thing. She
could ask Rick Santorum to reconcile his attack
on the sons and daughters of millions of par-
ents with the sign hanging over the
Republican Party: "Family Values."
All she'd need is a lesson from Michael
Moore. In his documentary Bowling for
Columbine, Moore embarrassed K-Mart execu-
tives into banning the sale of bullets used in
the Columbine high school shootings.
Incredibly, the K-mart store where the
killers bought their bullets continued to sell
them after the murders. Enter Moore. He did-
n't stage protests or become a spokesperson
for a victim rights group. -He just showed up at
K-Mart headquarters with two of Columbine's
survivors.
Oh, and he invited the media to come
along. They broadcast a most unusual sight: A
store executive telling a paralyzed-for-life
nineteen year old that K-Mart was perfectly
within their rights to sell the bullets he was
shot with.
A week later, K-Mart, correctly sensing a
P.R. disaster, pulled the bullets from all their
stores.
We can only hope that Mary Cheney meets
Michael Moore.
I wish someone would tell Mary Cheney
that she isn't too late, that redemption doesn't
have an expiration date. If I could shame my
karate teacher into doing the right thing Mary
Cheney can shame her father into doing it, too.
Michael Alvear can be reached at michael@men-
rpigs.cc.
Don Karcz Graph* rut* 125
David Monteiano Graphic Auxst 119
CIRCULATION
Moryonn Ramirez OccAmnDncia 124
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handled with due coition. We cannot, however, guarantee their safe return.
Wisdom of Dallas' gay, lesbian leaders questioned
Our gay so-called leaders being "stunned"
by Laura Miller's endorsement of Mark
Housewright is more indicative of the short-
comings of those self-appointed "leaders"
than any supposed fault of Ms. Miller.
Ms. Miller always endorses the best candi-
date, based on their skills and position on the
issues. She does not follow the simplistic for-
ihula of always endorsing an African-
American candidate in African-American
areas, a Hispanic candidate in Hispanic areas,
or even a gay candidate in gay areas.
Were these assumed leaders "stunned"
when Miller endorsed Sharon Boyd, a non-
Hispanic, in the overwhelmingly Hispanic
District 6?
Here's a concept: How about electing a city
council candidate based on their administra-
tive skills and effectiveness instead of their
demographics? Potholes don't care if you are
gay, Hispanic, or African-American. You want
your trash picked up twice a week regardless
of your ethnicity. Property values affect you
no matter what your sexual orientation is.
It's nonsense to say there is "intrinsic
value" in having a gay candidate on the coun-
cil if she/he isn't the best candidate. Was
there instrinsic value to the African-American
community of Washington D.C. in having
Marion Berry as mayor?
On the contrary, almost anyone else would
have been better for the residents of that city.
Even in heavily-gay neighborhoods, Ms.
Miller endorses people not by how lavender
their wardrobe may or may not be, but based
on who would be the best representative for
that neighborhood, and that is exactly what
she did in District 3.
It was a straight councilmember, Mark
Housewright, who brought the domestic part-
nership issue up for discussion in this city.
Where have our gay "leaders" been all this
time? Certainly not "leading."
Another straight elected official, Ms. Miller,
not our gay "leaders," made the non-discrimi-
nation ordinance happen. Would we have
been better off if these two individuals hadn't
been elected in the first place, but been defeat-
ed by a gay candidate? Certainly not.
The Dallas gay community is now in the
enviable position of having straight represen-
tatives not only listen to our needs, but cham-
pioning them. We got there by voting for the
most responsive candidate.
For us to always back the gay candidate
would take away any motivation straight can-
didates have to court our vote.
The best leaders of the Dallas gay commu-
nity right now just happen to be straight. So
here's some advice for our gay "leaders" (by
the way, who elected them?) — stay in school.
You have a lot to learn.
Van Johnson
Dallas
4
MAY 9, 2003
DALLAS VOICE
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, May 9, 2003, newspaper, May 9, 2003; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616342/m1/4/?rotate=0: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.