Cruel, Not Unusual

The crimes against animals in this article are abominable! ("Cruel Season," Mobtown Beat, Feb. 23.) With the value of human life in the inner city so cheap, it is no wonder these types of crimes are so prevalent. With the trial in the city of the two twins charged with the burning of Phoenix the pitbull ending with a mistrial, perhaps their next trial should be moved to the county court system. As quoted in the article, ". . . sometimes bad people are going to be bad people and continue to abuse animals." Perhaps if these criminals were incarcerated they would learn about abuse--first hand.

Curtis Kidwell
Baltimore

A Round of Abortions on the House

The cartoon in this issue of City Paper by Tom Tomorrow (This Modern World, Feb. 23) is one of his most hard-hitting ones yet. I can almost forgive him for the slanderous ones about Mumia Abu-Jamal. I say almost but not quite. However, his criticism of the anti-abortion movement does not go far enough. Let me go further.

True, the bulk of the movement against a woman's right to control her own body is a right-wing movement. If these cretins had their way, we'd have a New Testament version of Sharia law in this country. However, there are people who call themselves progressives who unfortunately are enabling these people. I remember calling the Marc Steiner show when the discussion was about a Jewish/Christian dialogue. Sadly, Mr. Steiner couldn't see the need to confront "leftists" who call themselves Christians about their anti-abortion views. True, these people might not block abortion clinics, but they set a moral tone of approval when they wrongly associate war and the death penalty with a medical procedure that will take the burden of an unwanted child off a woman's back. Then we have Democrats who want abortions to be safe, legal, and rare-- once again apologizing for offending people who would set this country back decades if they had their way.

We don't need fewer abortions! Abortions should be made easy as pie for all women--and they should be federally funded. If men can get Viagra from a doctor with no problems, women should have the right to abortions just that quickly. And those people who think there is some kind of seamless garment in opposition to war, the death penalty, and abortion are thinking like left shoes. They aren't thinking right at all.

Alan Barysh
Baltimore

Equal Marriage For Everybody

Any progressive person--actually anybody to the left of Pat Buchanan--ought to be thoroughly ashamed of the pathetically inadequate marriage bill working its way through the state legislature ("Here Come the Brides," Static, Feb. 23). 

If "equality" is the issue driving this legislation, how do its proponents possibly justify the continuing invidious discrimination against 1) polyamorists (much of it on the basis of religion), including fundamentalist Mormons and Muslims; 2) bisexuals who require meaningful marital associations composed of at least four people; 3) partners in what are now considered incestuous relationships--especially same-sex incestuous relationships, which do not lead to the possible procreation of offspring with genetic disorders, and nonsexual emotional and economic relationships between family members; and 4) other group arrangements, such as Hillary Clinton's village--which she argues convincingly is a most desirable entity for raising children? 

Is this just a matter of "getting ours, and to hell with everybody else"?

By limiting the legislation in this manner, its supporters are ceding the purported moral high ground to its opponents, much like historians who castigate the Nazis for their atrocities committed against the Jews while blithely ignoring those committed against their GLTB victims. 

They also, rather selfishly if not hypocritically, fail to point out to same-sex marriage foes who argue that marriage should be limited to those who procreate that polyamorists and others who do procreate are also denied equal rights under Maryland's current marriage statute.

We should not have to wait until multiple successful civil rights actions are litigated in the aftermath of the passage of a marriage bill extending the right only to same-sex couples. 

It's time to stop dancing around this issue and to demand equal marriage rights for all.

Barbara Steel
Phoenix

Corrections: Turp's Sports Bar and Restaurant is located at 1317 N. Charles St., not 317 N. Charles St., as incorrectly reported in this week's EAT supplement.

A bill that was wending its way through the Hawaiian legislature allowed same-sex civil unions, not same-sex marriages, as we incorrectly reported in last week's Static ("Here Come the Brides," Feb. 23). The bill was signed into law Feb. 23.

And last week's Baltimore Weekly Highlights mistakenly billed Tim Kreider's appearance at Atomic Books as being on Thursday, Feb. 24, not the correct date of Friday, Feb. 25 (the listing was correct online at citypaper.com). City Paper regrets the errors.