Dr. King's lesson
Every once in a while our readers just like to say thanks.
Dear Mr. Gabriel,
Thank you so much for your work, I could compliment many aspects of your kindness and high quality in your approach and crafting of your columns. What I like the most is your kind humbleness and the best aspect of your approach, in my opinion, is the way this noble humility can and does make way and easier the true enemies to contact each other peacefully and reasonably. Of course, you know as well as I that if one joins the poisonous shouting match, even in defense of peace or reason or anything else good, one has really already failed and only adds support to the poison itself. Dr. King's lesson, I like to say, decency in relations over any conflict.
Keep up the good work, brother.
Your reader,
Andrew J. Small III
Metaphor, lost
A couple of weeks ago Alysa Offman posted a blog about an anti-sex trafficking event called Man Up that was to take place at Wayne State University. The ever watchful eye of anti-sex trafficking and anti-Metro Times activist Andrea Lavigne was on the pages of our website and while she did appreciate our coverage of the event, she didn't really understand the metaphoric nature of using an image of a women's bound hand to represent the sex trade.
Dear Alysa,
Thank you for reporting the Man Up event held at WSU by the Soroptomist International of Grosse Pointe, and of greater Macomb, of which I am a member. My own organization was there too, the Sex Trafficking Think Tank, and its sub-committee Metro Detroit Against Metro Times.
Contrary to what the image you chose (women's hands roped) suggests, it is not the most common scenario for prostituted and trafficked women and girls. The most common scenario is a homeless or vulnerable teen that a Romeo pimp or bottom girl, who grooms or seasons and coerces and forces her into the sex trade (strip clubs, escorts, porn videos). The reason why I am doing a write up on the article you wrote on the Man Up event, is to inform.
Andrea Lavigne
Baby, let's cruise
Last week Lee DeVito posted about an anti-gay Midland pastor who was caught "cruising for gay sex" on the hookup app Grindr by Queerty. As MT's sex columnist Dan Savage repeatedly points out, this sort of thing happens all the time. Our readers really weren't surprised either.
Facebook user Jason Kenski says, "More like pASStor."
Facebook user Scott Swiecki says, "It's become almost comical just how much you can count on this factor when it comes to those who most aggressively attack gay rights."
Facebook user Samantha Susan Morrison says, "It always warms my heart with schadenfreude when someone who preaches so much hate gets caught doing the thing they're preaching about. Gotta love when anti-gay people get caught in the act."
Commentor TrexinMichigan says, "This tool threw five kids under the bus as well as his clueless wife. Savage is right."
