A heartwarming letter to the editor

Perhaps this is one of "ex-gay" whackjob James Hartline's followers. She has her knickers in a twist over San Diego Pride, and felt assaulted by queer people in the streets. She fired off a letter to the San Diego Union-Tribune, equating the Pride celebration with the violent attack on six gay men that day at Balboa Park:

Assailing behavior at gay pride festival

For days, we have been hearing from the Union-Tribune and other local news outlets about a purported “hate crime” committed by punks who assaulted homosexual men during the recent Gay Pride Festival. But there was another hate crime committed that weekend that was not reported: The hateful moral assault committed by the homosexual community against San Diegans of all ages through its degrading and indecent “pride” celebration.

That community demonstrated its hatred of innocent children by allowing them to view a parade where adults engaged in public nudity and simulated sex acts. It displayed its hatred of impressionable teens by exposing them to (hardcore) gay pornography, sadomasochistic practices and devices, and same-sex behavior in the festival area. [Was she there to see this firsthand? Judge for yourself; pictures from the event (taken by fundies) are here.]

It showed its hatred of Christians by giving an award to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, drag queens who dress up like nuns and mock the Catholic Church. It exhibited its hatred toward all San Diegans by turning Balboa Park into a filthy blot on “America's Finest City.” The politicians, law enforcement officials, churches, schools and businesses who participated are equally guilty of morally attacking San Diego's citizens.

While the physical assaults are deplorable and rightly to be condemned, it should not serve as a distraction from these hateful moral assaults. In the interest of journalistic fairness, the Union-Tribune and other local media should have exposed these degrading activities as much as they covered the physical assaults.

ALLYSON SMITH
El Cajon

Mind you, Oscar Foster, one of the victims in the attack, was hit in the head and torso 12 times with a baseball bat. His skull was fractured and he may need reconstructive surgery.