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Pen Points
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Imprison Michael Petrelis & David Pasquarelli I must take issue with writer Jesse Monteagudo, after reading his article "Free Michael Petrelis (and David Pasquarelli) . Mr. Monteagudo refers to Petrelis and Pasquarelli several times as "AIDS activists" and talks about their "...zealous fight on behalf of PWAs". Well, that's not really an accurate description.
Petrelis and Pasquarelli claim that AIDS medications are toxic and cause death, not AIDS. They don't bother to explain though the thousands of AIDS related deaths in third world countries where AIDS drugs are not available. At a time when public health agencies from New York to Seattle to Boston echo the findings of the health department here in San Francisco that the number of cases of STDs including HIV infections are rising among gay men and see that as an indicator of unsafe sex practices, ACT-UP SF and its supporters claim that AIDS doesn't exist and that HIV prevention is simply an anti-gay scare tactic to demonize the queer community. Mr. Petrelis is becoming quite well known for his efforts to to stop the funding of organizations dedicated to fighting AIDS and helping PWAs. He has supplied some of the most vocal homophobic and anti-gay members of Congress with ammunition to use against our community. For example he has taken the contents of safe sex workshops and provided them to politicians who are more than happy to use those details as an excuse to cut AIDS funding on the basis that it is being used to promote homosexual sexual practices. No, I don't think Petrelis and Pasquarelli can in any way be called "AIDS activists" nor ".zealous fighters on behalf of PWAs". To do so would be insulting to those who work so diligently to care for PWAs, who to try to prevent the disease from decimating yet another generation of young gay men, and most of all to those of us who buried friend after friend who fell victim to AIDS. Do Michael Petrelis and David Pasquarelli deserve to be jailed for their actions? Yes they do. They have terrorized those who disagree with them long enough. Imagine, if you will, that the actions of these men were to be turned around and used against those fighting for gay civil rights.
Imagine, if you will, that anti-gay protesters researched the home phone numbers and addresses of not only the gay leaders of the community, but of the office workers, and even the reporters in both the mainstream and gay press who wrote stories they didn't agree with, perhaps even your phone number and address, and that they posted those phone numbers and addresses on the internet, urging people to "Repeatedly telephone... at home -- preferably as late as possible to disturb their beauty sleep" or "drop by for a visit to tell her what you think of her". Imagine, if you will. that despite a court order prohibiting such behavior, the protesters continued calling at all hours of the day and night using obscenities, and even mentioned the names of your loved ones, including your children, to intimidate you. Now Mr. Petrelis and Mr. Pasquarelli find themselves in jail. Their apologists claim that the "terrorist" statutes they were charged under were used simply to inflame passions after September 11th. Actually those are the laws that fit the situation and would have been used whether or not the tragedy in New York and Washington D.C. had occurred or not. Has their bail been set too high? I don't know. What would it take to get them to leave their victims alone? Obviously a court issued restraining order didn't work. As a matter of fact the website of ACT-UP SF still contains home phone numbers and addresses of reporters and others the group disagrees with. Mr. Petrelis and Mr. Pasquarelli weren't jailed for exercising their right of free speech or for disagreeing about the seriousness of the spread of AIDS or even for being rude and obnoxious. They were jailed for attacking members of a group (those who believe in the danger of AIDS) with the hope that such attacks would bring fear and terror to all the members of that group, in an effort to silence them. Can you say "Hate crime"?
Paul Barwick Couples from Anywhere can be Registered While the benefits arising from the just-authorized D.C. Domestic Partners law do apply just inside D.C., the DP Registry, about to be established, is open to couples resident anywhere, as in Vermont, and not only to residents of D.C., as incorrectly indicated in your article. Thus any couple, resident anywhere, can be registered in D.C. as domestic partners; all are invited to come to Washington and register. We are planning a festive opening of the Registry, probably in January.
Frank Kameny Soulforce in Oklahoma
"Southern Baptist policies lead to ruined lives, suffering, and even death," declared Ken Jennison, Oklahoma City Coordinator. "We are committed to stopping spiritual violence against GLBT individuals, and we will continue to work for dialogue until these policies change." The vigils will be taking place because Dr. Rev.Ted Kersh, minister of Village Baptist Church, has refused requests to sit down and dialogue with Soulforce In Oklahoma leader and founder Karen Weldin and Ken Jennison on the subject of homosexuality. A professional mediator volunteered to sit down with Weldin, Jennison, and Kersh, but Rev. Kersh called off negotiations and canceled a previously scheduled meeting with leaders of Soulforce when he learned that the vigils would not be called off unless he promised continuing dialogue. "The Southern Baptist Church wants to push us back in the closet and make us silent and invisible," said Karen Weldin. " We are not going to remain silent in the face of oppression, nor can we be silenced by a minister who will agree to meet with us only one time in exchange for our silence." Soulforce had asked that a committee be formed made up of members of Village Baptist Church and Soulforce volunteers to study together the resource, "Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth: A Resource for congregations in dialogue on sexual orientation," published recently by the Baptist Peace Fellowship and the Baptist Alliance. According to the principles of non-violence, the first step in the process is dialogue with one's adversary. When that breaks down, the next step is direct action, such as will be occurring outside of Village Baptist Church starting January 6, 2002. Prior to calling for these direct actions, Weldin wrote four letters to Rev. Kersh, requesting to meet with him to talk about this issue. Southern Baptists policies teach that homosexuality is a "choice…a very poor and sinful choice with particularly devastating consequences." Southern Baptists also describe homosexual relationships as "always sinful, impure, degrading, shameful, unnatural, indecent, perverted."
Signed, |
Jailed denialist David Pasquarelli 
Soulforce members stand for equality 
© 1997-2002 BEI