From: WillNich@aol.com
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 1996 17:26:34 -0400
Subject: Far Right Activist Says Gay Newspaper "Full" of Pedophile Ads

RELIGIOUS ACTIVIST CHARGES THAT GAY NEWSPAPER IS FILLED WITH PEDOPHILE ADS

Dr. Frank Simon, an anti-gay activist from Louisville, butted heads with
David Williams, editor of The Letter, a Kentucky gay newspaper, on a local
talk show in Louisville on September 12.  The half-hour program, called "The
Jane Norris Show," was the first time the two had met face to face to discuss
gay issues.

Impetus of the show was a flyer being mailed out by Simon to 50,000 of the
most frequently voting Democrats in the state.  Titled "Kentucky Democrats
for Dole Newsletter," it charges, among other things, that one of the primary
goals of gays and lesbians is to legalize sex with children.

During the broadcast, Simon read three ads from the Personals Section of the
March 1996 edition of The Letter.  He said that one ad was from a 45-year-old
daddy-type seeking a "boy toy."  Another, he said, was from an adult male
looking for a "nudist boy" to serve him "domestically and sexually."  He also
mentioned an ad from an adult lesbian who was looking for a "soft tom boy" or
"baby dyke."

Simon claimed that all three ads were from adults seeking to have sex with
children.  He then charged that The Letter "is full from beginning to end for
people asking for sex with children....From one end to the other, this whole
magazine is full of ads."

In actuality, the Personals Section took up only two pages out of 32 in the
March issue, and of the 104 ads, Simon had highlighted only three in his
copy.  Except for four pages of adult phone ads in the back, all of which
require callers to be eighteen or over, the rest of the newspaper is devoted
to news, features, and entertainment.

Most dishonestly, however, Simon failed to tell the television viewing
audience pertinent information about the ads which would have provided a
different picture.

For example, after the words "boy toy" in the first ad, the individual who
placed the ad inserted his desired age bracket:  28-38.  In the second ad,
for a "nudist boy," the individual's desired age bracket was 18-38.  While
the lesbian seeking a "baby dyke" mentioned no age bracket, the term "baby
dyke" is generally understood in the gay and lesbian community to mean young
adult lesbians, not babies or children.

Williams was not provided with copies of the ads during the show and did not
discover the pertinent age bracket information until afterwards.

Even after Williams explained to Simon on the program that such terms as "boy
toy" and "baby dyke" refer to young adults, Simon continued to insist that
The Letter was allowing ads from adults seeking sex with children.

"Simon is as dishonest as they come," railed Williams.  "For him to omit that
information on television, when it was clearly in front of him, and then to
look at the camera and charge with a bald face that our newspaper was filled
with ads from pedophiles, is about as low as you can go."

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