I take issue with Darrell Michaud's assertion that Xtra West's excessive focus on sex is justified because sex is at the heart of what it is to be gay (Letters, Nov 5, Issue 423). The fact is, sexual behaviour is only part of one's sexuality. It may be surprising to some, but there are many gay people whose lives don't revolve around sex but who still consider themselves to be gay because they know that their primary attraction is to members of the same sex. These people may also identify as being gay (or, perhaps more accurately, queer) because they’re acutely aware of what it is to feel or be different. It is these people who feel alienated by Xtra West's excessive focus on sexual activity.
I take further issue with David Myers' claim (Letters, Nov 5, Issue 423) that readers who are offended by this publication are courting acceptance by the heterosexual majority. There are plenty of gay people who don't care one way or another whether they're accepted by society (hence their identification as queer) yet who still find that the paper's focus on sex (rather than sexuality more broadly) doesn't adequately reflect their interests and concerns.
This doesn't mean that overt sexual content offends these readers or that they feel it doesn't have a place in the paper. Rather, it means that they're looking for a little more balance in the types of topics covered.
Eddy Elmer,
Vancouver, BC
Copyright © 2009, by Eddy M. Elmer
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