After Long Wait, Same Sex Couples Marry in New York appeared on page one of the Monday New York Times. My letter to the editor:
Dear Editors:
I nearly spewed my coffee on the front page on Monday as I read the
second paragraph of your article about the historic first gay
marriages in New York. Michael Barbaro’s description of gay men and
women arriving to their weddings ”in matching sequined ties and
pinstriped suits” made me wonder if Mr. Barbaro thinks that gay people
wear sequined ties with their pinstripe suits because it’s a)
effeminate, b) theatrical! or c) (god forbdid) fashionable. But
journastically, the description fails not only the litmus test of my
own experience of how my boyfriend, myself, and our gay friends dress,
but none of the 25 photos accompanying the article display a sequined
tie either – matching or not. Had Mr. Barbaro said “some of them
arrived in matching sequined ties”, and been supported by photographic
evidence, I would have thought “Okay, that’s like saying some of them
arrive in assless chaps, or high heels, a bit biased and of
questionable purpose, but at least accurate.” In this case, it feels
like a dated, slurry reference, as if I were to describe a New York
Times reporter as “arriving via Checkered Cab, crumpled suit reeking
of the cigarette dangling from his lips, Fedora cocked at a jaunty
angle, rushing to get the copy back to the boy on the printing press.”
Such a historic occasion, and the dignity of the process and people
being reported on, deserved a more careful editorial eye, especially
from a newspaper that has been so careful to err on the side of
intelligence.
Sincerely,
Jerry Kolber
the comparison just made this for me.
keep up the keen eye!