I post this on behalf of Stonewall DFL... It was with great disappointment that we read the editorial in the current issue of Lavender Magazine. The inflammatory language and the ambush nature of the piece were disappointing and we would have hoped that Lavender would be more responsible.
The labeling of our organization and other DFL activists as "quasi-terrorists" is not only irresponsible it is also offensive. Not only is the language deliberately extreme and emotional it is also an insult to those people and their families who are victims of terrorist acts such as the bombing of the World Trade Center. It is clear that the use of this language is not meant to engage debate and valid criticism but rather it is to invoke fear and hatred. Using only conjecture and innuendo Lavender tries to link us to actions that we had no knowledge of until the publication of this attack on us. We have never supported any type of harassment and we never will. In addition to the attack on Stonewall it is unfortunate that they attack Representative Scott Dibble. In addition to being an excellent State Representative Rep. Dibble is also one of the most honorable people we know. It is also sad that they have chosen to misrepresent the position of this caucus regarding Catherine Shreves. Ms. Shreves herself is an amazing woman. We endorsed her two years ago for the Minneapolis School Board and rated her as acceptable in her bid for this Senate seat. Our endorsement of Rep. Dibble was in no way a negative statement regarding Ms. Shreves. Odds are if the other candidate had been anyone other than Rep. Dibble Ms. Shreves would have easily earned our endorsement. She has been and continues to be a wonderful ally of ours and we hope to see her as a candidate again! We are left to wonder why the editors of Lavender Magazine have decided to use the position they have in our community to attack our community. Unfortunately this and other attacks on the Stonewall Caucus seem to stem from our support of recent efforts by Lavender Magazine staff to form a union. The pattern of abuse and harassment that union organizers were subjected to now appears to be targeted toward those people who supported them. The GLBT community here deserves a responsible and accurate news source. The Stonewall DFL has no interest in escalating this conflict. Therefore we will be filing a complaint with the Minnesota News Council and seeking their mediation services in resolving this matter. We hope that the editors of Lavender Magazine will join us in a good faith effort to reconcile these matters. A copy of this complaint will be available on our web page at a later date. Patrick Peterson Issues Director Stonewall DFL Dinkytown, Ward 2 ===== -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Patrick Peterson [EMAIL PROTECTED] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts http://uk.my.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
