LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor:

I was dismayed by The Pitt News’ coverage of the Rainbow Alliance’s series of… Dear Editor:

I was dismayed by The Pitt News’ coverage of the Rainbow Alliance’s series of events last week titled “Pride Week.” It featured six events, the majority largely inoffensive, save Thursday night’s piece, the Drag Show. It was a highly stereotypical event that promoted the image of the flamboyant homosexual male against which so many fight to achieve an image of respectability.

The Pitt News’ first portrayal of the Drag Show consisted of a full-page color photo on the front page of the April 4 issue depicting a roller-skating drag queen. The second was an article run in the April 9 issue, also on the front page, which detailed the show. The Pitt News chose to most prominently showcase the most stereotypical, popular-culture image of homosexuals. The event and the coverage perpetuate an inaccurate generalization of gays.

The blame cannot, however, be placed squarely upon The Pitt News; the Rainbow Alliance willfully reinforces these stereotypes. They, too, promoted the Drag Show more than any of their other events, and they warmly embrace the representation of effeminate gay men. As written in the April 9 article, the club’s vice president noted that “some people think it’s a bad image (for the gay community),” but neither The Pitt News nor the Rainbow Alliance seems to care to look into these other viewpoints. In the end, an organization that is supposed to represent me as a homosexual and a paper that is supposed to stand for the student body have both badly misrepresented homosexuals.

Justin Cardinale Student