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| Compiled by Badpuppy's GayToday From 'The Letter' Louisville, Kentucky
Phoenix Hill Enterprises, Inc., publishers of The Letter, a Louisville-based
newspaper serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, filed
suit in US District Court October 28 against a local Republican candidate
running for Louisville's board of aldermen and an anti-gay activist closely
tied to his campaign.
The suit alleges copyright infringement and defamation. The charges stem from a July 6 fundraising letter sent out on the letterhead of Michael Dickerson, Republican candidate for the 12th ward seat. It claimed that if a citywide gay civil rights ordinance were passed, there would be "overt Homosexual Activists in All Jefferson County [Louisville] Schools." It also included a marked up copy of the personals pages from the March 1996 edition of The Letter, which it said showed ads from homosexuals seeking sex with children. A campaign donation envelope and a flyer laying out Dickerson's platform were also enclosed.
Last week Dickerson told the Louisville Courier-Journal he didn't know anything about the letter and says the signature is not his. He thought the letter might be a smear tactic by his opponent. Part of Dickerson's comments may be true. The signature on the letter apparently does not match ones on campaign documents filed earlier. But it appears to have been sent out by someone associated with his campaign. About two weeks after the July 6 letter, an announcement for a Dickerson fundraiser was sent out using the same postal meter employed for the earlier mailing. Also named in the suit are anti-gay activist Dr. Frank Simon; Freedom's Heritage Forum and the American Family Association of Kentucky, two groups associated with Simon; and Peter Hayes, Dickerson's campaign manager, an associate of Simon's who is running for the 4th ward aldermanic seat. The marked up copy of the personals ads exactly matches another sent out by one of Simon's groups in March 1997. Simon has used the ads repeatedly since at least September 1996 as part of his efforts at fighting a proposed gay civil rights ordinance. Two of the ads were placed by adult men seeking, respectively, a "boy toy" and a "nudist boy." The third was from an adult woman seeking a "baby dyke." Simon has claimed on several occasions that the ads are from adults seeking sex with children. But the two male ads clearly show age requirements of 18 and over, and in the female ad, the term "baby dyke" is lesbian slang for a young adult lesbian and not a baby. One of Simon's main themes through the years is the equation of homosexuality with pedophilia. Another is the fear that a gay civil rights ordinance would open the schools up to gay and lesbian teachers who might then teach children how to become homosexuals. These two beliefs have permeated a great deal of his anti-gay literature since the early 1990s. Another clue as to the origin of the July 6 letter is a certain spelling technique common to much of Simon's mailings. Inappropriate capitalizations of such words as "homosexual" and "special rights" appear routinely in Simon's literature, as they do in the July 6 letter. He also closes his letters with such phrases as "Your Servant in Christ," in much the same way as the July 6 letter ended above Dickerson's signature line. Tantalizing clues that aren't enough in themselves to lead back to his doorstep, but in combination with other information very well could. The Letter (online): www.iglou.com/theletter. Subscriptions are $25 for the first year, $20 for renewals. Address : Phoenix Hill Enterprises, P.O. Box 3882, Louisville, 40201 |
David Williams © 1997-98 BEI