readerforum.

Don't ask, don't tell?

I am bitterly disappointed in your decision to splash Capt. Rich Merritt's career in gay porn on your cover ["Leading a Triple Life," February 16]. In an era of the "politics of personal destruction," your magazine has succeeded in outhustling Larry Flynt and outsnooping Kenneth Starr. I read the New York Times Magazine profile of Merritt, and there were no claims that he was a virgin or a perfect man. He never claimed to be anything other than a gay man who could no longer deal with the systematic and outrageous discrimination practiced by the U.S. military. A fundamental precept of the gay rights movement has been that personal sexual practices should not be held against you in the workplace and other public sectors. Your article does grievous harm to that precept.

Duncan Stevens, Arlington, Va.

Although my first reaction to articles that cast the gay population in a negative light--gay-on-gay domestic abuse, barebacking, and now Merritt's porn-film background--is to think that we should keep our dirty linen to ourselves, I've come to realize it's really the symbol of an active and vital gay and lesbian press.

Although I'm sure you'll get letters suggesting you shouldn't have run the story, I don't think anyone wants a gay press that shies away from controversy. Who'd read it? And as for the argument that reporting of this sort "makes us look bad," does anyone really believe that in a nation consumed by Monicagate, we could possibly look any worse than our straight brethren?

Harold Levine, New York, N. Y.

With your continuing attempts to attract readers with sensationalism, you have stooped to an all-time low. When I read the New York Times Magazine piece about Merrith I felt companion. When I read The Advocate's January 19 interview with him, I felt pride. When I read your February 16 article, I felt disgust--not toward Merritt but toward The Advocate. By printing this article, you have behaved like a cheap tabloid. You have provided our enemies with ammunition and have attempted to undermine a hero of gay people. In this case you should be the ones who don't ask and don't tell

Dan Bauman, New York, N.Y.

I was offended by the holier-than-thou attitude in both the main story and Jose Zuniga's insert. Zuniga obtained the 1992 Soldier of the Year award probably because of outstanding work. But he had to suffer and live in a lie-filled closet to do so. Now he condemns another who did nothing more disturbing than have sex on film for money. It is not criminal behavior. I assert that those of us who feel that Merritt acted criminally by performing on film are malicious and demented and very seriously in need of psychological therapy. The sex drive is as urgent and important as other physiological drives.

Timothy Lee Davis, San Diego, Calif.

Though it seems appropriate to include remarks by ex-soldier Zuniga in your outing of Merritt as a prevaricating porn actor, wouldn't it have been even more appropriate to mention Zuniga's less-than-candid original account of his own sexual history? With deceivers like this pair as spokesmodels for the gays-in-the-military cause, we hardly need to worry about lies by Jesse Helms, Sam Nunn, and the Christian-Republican right.

Elliott Mackle, Atlanta, Ga.

The Advocate seems to be leaning heavily these days, like most of our beloved media, on the "sex" angle of stories. Fine, cover the stow of Merritt's participation in the porn industry while being an enlisted officer in the Marines. You may claim it was for maintaining journalistic integrity. However, that integrity is seriously questionable when you actually print stills of the porn videos on the cover and within the stow. Did you have some kind of agreement with the producers of the porn films featuring Merritt? I'm sum they're getting a lot of orders!

Alisa Cook, Tucson, Ariz.

How could Merritt be so naive as to think his secret wouldn't eventually come out? Makes me wonder if he's the noble queer military hero that he fancies himself to be.

R.G. Graves, Toledo, Ohio 

Philadelphia story

It's sad that the Philadelphia Police Department has to be put on the defensive over Thomas Gilbert Kalt's death ["A Philadelphia Tragedy," February 16]. Those quick to cry homophobia am ignoring the real problem at hand: that suicide results because a person views death as the only viable solution to emotional trauma and that this reaction can be triggered by any number of events in one's life. It is therefore foolhardy to single out homophobia (or any other outside force, for that matter) as the culprit Suicide comes from within, and the person who harbors such feelings needs help in the way of antidepressants and therapy. Homophobia, I hope, will one day be eradicated, but we mustn't believe that with it will go gay suicide.

Bob Cruz, New York, N.Y.

The color of homophobia

I enjoyed reading Randall Kenan's commentary [My Perspective, February 16], but I did not expect to see the old mantra of "African-American homophobia" touted again. Homophobia is homophobia, and, if anything, "white homophobia" is far more damaging to gay culture--look at the homophobes in Congress. From my experience as a gay black male, white gay culture uses "African-American homophobia" to perpetuate discrimination against other gay black males!

Troy Baskin, via the Internet

Darwin the activist

As a student of evolutionary biology, I take issue with Max Harrold's claim that homosexuality in animals "flies in the face of Darwin's neat and ordered food chain" ["Creature Comforts," February 16]. Darwin never said nature was tidy. He merely claimed that certain inherited traits would become more common than others through natural selection In fact, Darwin stridently rejected the idea that "more common" traits were somehow morally "better." His unwavering support and admiration of his gay brother, Erasmus, bears testimony to this great man's wisdom.

Whit Fisher, New York, N.Y.

One strike against

You paint a picture of James Hormel as a philanthropist who was a victim of the rampant homophobia of the Senate [At Issue, February 16]. While this may be true, it is a completely one-sided view of this mar. As someone who grew up in southeastern Minnesota during the incredibly volatile Hormel workers' strike that went on for years during the '80s, I remember the effect his strikebreaking had on our community. This was a strike that tore apart all of southeastern Minnesota. I believe Hormel should have been denied an ambassadorship, not because of his sexuality but because he is a businessman who has made his money by violently exploiting workers. He does not deserve our support or endorsement. Remember that our struggle is infinitely interconnected to the struggles of the working class. Let's not glorify a man whose living is made from oppression.

Matty Strickler, Minneapolis, Minn.

Blanket apology

On behalf of the Names Project Foundation, I would like to correct a falsehood implied by your February 16 Grass Roots story: The AIDS memorial quilt does not sit folded on shelves in a warehouse for most of the year. If anything, the quilt is very active, and it is the shelves that gather dust rather than the panels. In 1998 the foundation organized 390 displays, a figure that does not include the hundreds of smaller displays arranged by over 50 chapters and international affiliates. Every one of the nearly 43,000 panels was shipped out of the warehouse an average of three times per year, allowing an estimated 1 million people to view the quilt. As a result, more than $3,250,000 has been given back to community-based groups from display proceeds.

Edward Gatta Jr. San Francisco, Calif.