Ramirez Cartoon on Gays in Military

On the same day that Great Britain lifted the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military, The Times has chosen to print another of Michael Ramirez’s gay-bashing cartoons on the subject (Jan. 13). The cartoon depicts a man in a jeep with his arm around a sheep. This suggests that gay people who choose to give their lives in service to their country despite the peril of losing all of their position and their benefits if they are found out, are to be classified as being involved in bestiality.

The Times should have the sensitivity to understand when Ramirez’s prejudice against people who are different from himself goes beyond the standards of decency that belong in a distinguished newspaper. Gay and lesbian people spend their lives searching for the same goals as heterosexual people--honest work, a home, a loving relationship, stability, faith, ethical ways of interacting with the world and aspirations for the best they can achieve in such a world. Ramirez and The Times by association diminish these lives when purposely reaching for the foulest insinuations based on backward prejudice.

THE REV. PAUL TELLSTROM

Mt. Hollywood Congregational

Church, Los Angeles

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It is unacceptable to open the pages of The Times and witness the persistent homophobia of Ramirez’s political cartoons. His equation of gay relationships with bestiality is exactly the same kind of denigrating hate speech you see on right-wing Web sites advocating violence against lesbians and gay men.

At a time when our state is preparing to vote on gay marriage and decide whether or not to deny our civil rights as gay people, this kind of bigotry from Ramirez makes it more difficult to continue subscribing to your newspaper. Perhaps the hundreds of dollars I spend each year on my subscription should be redirected to the No on Knight campaign to try to undo some of the damage of your political cartoonist.

TIM MILLER

Venice

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Kudos to Ramirez for the funniest and most appropriate cartoon of this new century. In a nation in which freedom of speech is being effectively strangled by the mandated hypocrisy of political correctness, Ramirez’s gutsy humor is a breath of fresh air!

ARTHUR HANSL

Santa Monica

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Ramirez’s cartoon extends his tradition of thoughtless stereotyping to new heights. This time, Ramirez equates the love between two people of the same sex with bestiality. Dehumanizing gays and lesbians in this manner is dangerous and can be compared to similar campaigns that portrayed Jews, African Americans and other marginalized groups as less than human in order to justify their oppression. It is possible, of course, to express political viewpoints without indulging in reckless stereotyping, though Ramirez seems disinclined to do so.

LISA ALVAREZ

Laguna Beach