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Pen Points
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Zenger's Editor: Mark Gabrish Conlan
"(GayToday Editor Jack) Nichols' proud boast that "I've ignored the anti-HIV tirades that David Pasquarelli has been sending GayToday and other news outlets" seems to me diametrically opposed to the spirit of curiosity that underlies all good journalism." The spirit of curiosity does not underlie all good journalism. The spirit of eternal skepticism, and of a steadfast determination to provide the readership with unvarnished and demonstrable truth, are the concepts which underlie all good journalism. The "spirit of curiousity," on the other hand, has given the world such lamentable acts of so-called journalism as British tabloids mercilessly stalking members of the royal family; the lie-filled Clinton-bashing festival of inexcusable print bankrolled by psychotic zillionaire Richard Mellon Scaife -- and the absurd spectacle of David Pasquarelli's utterly unsupported, pathetically paranoid "AIDS is over" agenda-masquerading-as-activism being treated as if it deserved any serious consideration. Or, for that matter, any consideration at all except as another item of questionably-entertaining buffoonery. Journalism relies on facts. Not on propaganda (regardless of whether one supports or opposes that propaganda); not on endless and self-serving exploration of a thoroughly-discredited and self-serving opinion. Anyone who aspires to journalism had better get used to the idea that the facts don't always support the editorial position one would like to advance. Sometimes, as in this case, the facts utterly repudiate the editorial position this gentleman would like to present to readers. Confronted with that, an editor has a choice. He or she may pen a "mea culpa" to the readership, acknowledging that the editorial board has made a mistake, and that apology may be a full-on breast-beating "We are SO sorry," or it may be a more usual collation of vaguenesses -- misled by bad information; led astray by people whose charisma far outweighs their allegiance to the facts; even a desire to serve a minority readership view.
There exists, freely available to all, reams and reams of demonstrably-true documentation which utterly refutes Pasquarelli's position, which invalidates his position, which diametrically contradicts his position. The documentation was not produced by issue journalists with an axe to grind. It was produced by physicians who have made AIDS their lifes' work. It was produced by several public-health officials who actually DO have the public's health chiefly and foremost in their minds and thoughts. It was produced by biochemists and independent researchers beholden to no pharmaceutical company or politically motivated agenda. While I dislike stooping to the same sort of gaucherie and ignorance demonstrated by this editor and others of his ilk, there is no elegant, diplomatic, delicate manner in which to discuss Mr. Pasquerelli's nonsensical and asinine views. The theory he advances is pure and unadulterated bullshit of the first water, period. There is nothing journalistic about Pasquarelli's agenda -- it is, purely, an agenda. An agenda whose whole aim and design is to induce in the gullible several dangerous and potentially-fatal notions: that bare-back sex, so-called, is not a vector for AIDS and is instead a safe expression of sexual desire. That AIDS is caused not by the human HIV virus, but by the very drugs used to treat and ameliorate HIV infection. That the vast global public health bureaucracy is, en masse, engaged in an intentional and murderous campaign of disinformation on the matter of HIV/AIDS, and regardless of their demonstrated dedication or impeccable credentials they are not to be trusted. Put in coarse language, Pasquarelli and his cohorts want to be able to fuck whom they wish, how they wish, when they wish, and without any threat of HIV infection. The concept that "wishing will make it so" in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, is assuredly NOT a concept which underlies good journalism -- yet it is the very concept espoused as gospel-truth by Pasquerelli and some compliant editors. I would suggest that the best thing responsible journalists can do, in this case, is to follow the example of Jack Nichols and simply ignore the ravings of the AIDS denialists. They do not deserve print space in respectable publications to advance their idiocies; they do not deserve the aura of serious consideration bestowed when a respectable publication prints their ravings; most of all they do not deserve access to a forum permitting them to spread their agenda to unwitting readers, who may be induced to take their daft ranting seriously, and thus seriously endanger their own health and the health of others.
Regards, Dear My Generation: I grew up in Savannah, Georgia, during the 50s and early 60s. I can not remember when I did not know I was gay. In high school, I used a Webster's Collegiate Dictionary that excluded the word "homosexual" because it was considered obscene. At fifteen, I attempted suicide because of the violence I experienced in high school and the problems at home. I thought your recent piece on lesbian parents was wonderful, especially since AARP has for too long been silent about the presence of the gay and lesbian senior community. Our senior leaders, like Harry Hay, Frank Kameny, Morris Kight, and Jack Nichols, who fought for the concept of human and gay liberation have shown the kind of stone-cut courage in the face of physical danger and humiliation that all of us need. Their amazing stories need to be told, too. Perry Brass The Noelle Bush Petition
I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider signing yourself. Best wishes, Stephanie Donald |
GayToday Editor Jack Nichols 
Noelle Bush: Facing felony charges 
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