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Pen Points
Letters to Gay Today |
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Anita Bryant—A Cheap Date for $25.40
I thought you might be interested in knowing that a very ugly person
from the mid-seventies has shown up in East Tennessee, Anita Bryant.
The following is a quote from the Knoxville News Sentinal, September 10, 1999 (page 31--Weekender section): "The Dollywood Company closed the theater at the end of last season and sold it to Anita Bryant this year. ...Anita Bryant's show which debuts at 8pm Saturday is being described as a "high production" show by officials at her theater. "It is expected to include dance numbers, a patriotic segment, and Christian Music. A laser light show is planned for next season. ...Tickets for Bryant's show are $25.40 for ages 12-59 and $23.20 for 60 and over. " Funny thing is they failed to discuss if Bryant has talent. But of course, Reggie White is from Knoxville too. The theater that Bryant bought is in Pigeon Forge, which is the home of Dolly Parton and obviously Dollywood, which are well known for being quietly gay friendly, okay more friendly that most of East Tennessee. I thought you might find this of interest to those of us who suffered through the total disgust in which many of us still hold Ms. Bryant. Twenty five years later she is still trying to restart a career that never started in the first place. I still cannot drink orange juice to this day.
As always,
The Domestic Partner Benefits Boom
If the economy holds up into 2001, everybody to the left of William P. Bennett, and some of those to the right as well (especially if the Bush pup wins election), will pronounce the American educational system the best in the world (crisis over) for a very similar reason (not there aren't some changes we should make, mind you). The HRC is right that there are some connections to San Fransisco's action, but the context is important. This rising tide is lifting our boat. Jonathan Justice Guns: Helping People Kill People
A 1997 study by the United Nations of 49 industrialized and developing countries found that only two countries --the US and the Czech Republic--do not have a firearm licensing system.
Thirty five percent of US households possess at least one firearm--over three times the average of the other countries surveyed. The US is among only 22% of countries in the study that do not have regulations regarding the storage of firearms. The total firearm death rate in the US is 13.7 per 100,000 people, three times the average rate for the other countries, and third highest, after Brazil and Jamaica. In 1995, 1225 people in the US died from firearm accidents, over three times higher than the rate for other countries. The US has the highest firearm suicide rate, 7 per 100,000--seven times greater than the average rate for other countries. Children in the US are 12 times more likely to die from firearm injury than are children in other industrialized nations. A 1988 study in The New England Journal of Medicine compared the rates of firearm violence in Seattle WA, and Vancouver CA. The two cities are less than hours apart by car, and culturally similar. Vancouver regulates handguns strictly. The two cities have similar rates of burglary, robbery, and assault, but in Seattle there is an almost five times greater risk of being murdered with a handgun than in Vancouver. In 1991 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reported that since the turn of the century there have been over 211,000,000 firearms manufactured in the US, of which 71,000,000 were handguns. Since 1989, manufacturers and importers have introduced an average of 3.5 million new guns into the US market each year. Since 1980, domestic production of pistols has more than doubled. In 1980, pistols made up less than 15% of the total firearms produced in the US. In 1995, they represented almost 30% of total firearm production. But naaahhhh, it CAN'T be the absurd proliferation of handguns and the comparatively weak firearm regulations in this country. Of course not. That would be silly. Ted K. |
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