Position on HIV Mischaracterized
To the Editor:
In “HIV Denialism and African Genocide” (May-June 2011), Lawrence D. Mass calls me “an extreme denialist,” which sounds bad—though to be sure, there are things I deny: Jesus walking on water, the Tooth Fairy, the benefits of AZT. Although I disagree with the thrust of Mass’s article, I’ll confine my reply to two mischaracterizations of my position. It is not true that I “was inspired by [Joseph] Sonnabend to become an HIV denialist.” I was a skeptic of the “new infectious agent” hypothesis from the very beginning from the standpoint of my expertise as a survey research analyst, my profession since 1966. Sonnabend was a friend of mine, but our views on AIDS were very different.
In the decade from 1986 to 1997, Charles Ortleb published over fifty of my articles in The New York Native and Christopher Street (many of them having nothing to do with AIDS). But it is not true that I “provided the Native with its most extensive coverage of Ortleb’s take on ‘AIDS.’” My ideas are my own. As anyone can see by reading the articles under our respective bylines, Ortleb’s take on AIDS was very different from mine. Nevertheless, he believed in free speech and did not publish only people he agreed with. My own ideas on the topic are in the “AIDS” section of my personal website.
John Lauritsen, Boston
Why Was a Michael Jackson Bio Ignored?
To the Editor:
This is in response to the review of a biography of Michael Jackson that appeared in the May-June 2011 issue, Michael Jackson: The Magic, the Madness, the Whole Story: 1958–2009, by J. Randall Taraborrelli. I was surprised to see this book reviewed, because the editors had passed over another biography of Jackson that I brought to their attention last year, ostensibly because the GLR’s readership would not be interested in this pop icon. This book was called Michael Jackson’s Dangerous Liaisons (2010), by Carl Toms (a pseudonym), a carefully organized, logically presented, and well written investigation of all the charges against Jackson involving the seduction of boys, a crime of which he was never convicted. In contrast, I don’t believe that the chosen book is as good as the reviewer, Colin Carman, maintained.
The passed over book, M.J.’s Dangerous Liaisons, was actually written by Tom O’Carroll, who used the pseudonym Carl Toms because he realized that no British publisher would touch this book if published under his real name. Tom O’Carroll is a notorious pedophile. For years he ran PIE, Pedophile Information Service, in England. I believe it was on-line and helped pedophiles communicate with each other. O’Carroll was arrested and imprisoned once in connection with his activities with PIE, which shut down years ago. But then, like many pedophiles unable to secure employment in England or elsewhere, he went to the Middle East, where for years he worked as a newspaper correspondent. There he honed his skills as a writer. But when he returned from Arabia to Great Britain a couple of years ago, he was arrested and imprisoned for a second time, because they supposedly found pictures of underage Arab youths in his luggage.
O’Carroll ended up self-publishing the book with a British company called Troubadour. When this vanity press discovered that the author was a pedophile, they tried to destroy roughly 2,000 paperback copies that he had paid for. This was prevented by legal means, and the book is now being distributed through a small New York press. It’s listed on Amazon, and I hope this letter will induce some of your readers to buy it.
The bottom line of Toms’ 634-page tome is that Michael Jackson never penetrated any of his many boyfriends with anything more than a tongue, if that. The author sees no evidence that any of Jackson’s young friends ever regretted their relationship with him or were harmed directly by it. To be sure, some scheming parents claimed that their kids had been harmed and succeeded in extorting money from Jackson. But many boys and their families benefited greatly by their association with the pop star.
William A. Percy, Boston
How TV Helped Me to Come Out
To the Editor:
I concur with Don Gorton’s “guest opinion” piece (March-April 2011) about the importance of Glee and other TV shows in helping gay young people to come to terms with their sexuality. I have television to thank for my own coming out. Emboldened by the casual reaction that Marc St. James on Ugly Betty and Kevin Walker on Brothers and Sisters received when they told others about their same-sex relationships, I too came out to my family, friends, and school administrators. Their reaction was equally positive and accepting.
Saying that I was comfortable as an openly gay high school junior in the predominately Islamic country of Indonesia surprises many gay people, particularly those who grew up in families and societies where sexual minorities are condemned. They have felt a sense of isolation, frustration, and pure fear at the very time in their lives when they most need reassurance and encouragement.
I never felt that degree of radical loneliness, because programs like Queer as Folk uncovered a large and varied gay cultural heritage, one that spoke directly to my experience as my feelings toward other males developed. One afternoon I was channel- surfing when I stumbled upon As The World Turns. I remember my eyes widening as Luke Snyder kissed Noah Mayer. It was the first time I had seen the lips of two men touch. A subject that had always been censored or marginalized had now entered the mainstream airwaves. Shows like these can challenge uninformed and bigoted attitudes while helping viewers to discover a part of the world that they’ve ignored or rejected.
In decades gone by, homosexuality was vilified and persecuted. The Detective, a 1968 film, focused on the loneliness of homosexual figures, whose susceptibility to blackmail and casual sex assured a miserable life. Yet by 2006, the High School Musical franchise tolerated the flamboyant Ryan Evans on a hugely popular, Emmy-award-winning show. Glee has brought drama, wit, music—and a queer sensibility—to mainstream popular culture. Before Glee, there had never been a celebration of a same-sex teen relationship on network television. But there was Kurt Hummel being serenaded by the object of his affection, Blaine Anderson, another openly gay student.
I don’t know the last time a TV program made you shed a tear, but for me it was last December, when this scene was aired. Even a few years ago it would probably have been impossible for such a scene to air in prime time. And it happened at a high school not entirely unlike the one that I now attend.
Ayden Fabien Férdeline, Vancouver
Corrections
An article in the May-June 2011 issue, “The Rise and Fall of HIV Care,” stated that the Ryan White Care Act was signed by President George H. W. Bush in 1989. The act was actually passed and signed in 1990, the year in which Ryan White died.
An artist’s profile in the Jan.-Feb. 2011 issue stated incorrectly that Michael Cunningham’s first novel was A Home at the End of the World (1990). In fact, he wrote an earlier novel, Golden States, published in 1984.
