_______________ASK CAMILLE: THREE-WAY SEX WITH DEATH BY CAMILLE PAGLIA (02/17/99)

Several months ago, Camille Paglia had me in stitches with her bizarre and inflated theory of gay male "cruising." Now comes her pompous pronouncement on barebacking, and one wonders if Paglia isn't playing some fantastically sublime joke on the right wing. Here is her message: Gay men who practice safe sex are humorless drones, and gay men who don't are orgiastic pigs who will reap the whirlwind. Although she'd be horrified to admit it, Paglia shares many of the elitist assumptions of the A-gay cliques in major metropolitan areas. It's a world where all gay men have the money and wit to play bitchy queen to society matrons at gallery openings. Of course, we do need a few low-class queens to act as waiters and stewards, but they'll sleep until noon and be at work by 3, so your kids won't ever see them. Would 10 minutes with a gay auto mechanic be long enough for Paglia to realize how little she knows about gay men? Probably not, since he'd probably make some suggestions on what she could do with her hair and she'd snap her fingers triumphantly. -- Bernard Gundy San Francisco Camille Paglia's comments on the tobacco lawsuit scam were rather lightweight. The tobacco lawsuits and most "class action" lawsuits are lawyer scams. The lawyers are the only ones getting anything out of these suits and they, of course, are getting nice fat fees as set by the courts. When this country finally wakes up and does something to stop these scams, it will be too late as most American companies will have moved out of the country. -- James Beebe Northbrook, Ill. While Camille Paglia's writing seems to carry a clear grasp of the historical context and present realities of "bareback" sex among gay men, she somehow feels the need to use this to make a flippant attack on all gay men. Arguing that gay men engage in unprotected sex and therefore gay men should not claim martyrdom makes many assumptions and ultimately commits a non sequitur. Yes, some gay men engage in unprotected sex for the thrill of it. Yes, some gay men run around calling for martyrdom. But most of the gay men I know are ordinary men who do claim affiliation with each other based on sexual impulses, but by no means are sexually compulsive or demanding of constant pity. Misinterpreting the screeching of a bunch of petty old men as indicative of the whole of gay America is definitely dangerous, just as I would not consider Al Sharpton the representative of all black people in America. We are individuals, able to think for ourselves, able to control our sexual urges and able to think coherently. But by no means should Paglia conclude that we all wander around the streets of San Francisco and New York with our dicks hanging out, running to the next bareback party, only to scream about discrimination against us. -- Kirk Wylie San Francisco N E X T+P A G E+| Not all public schools are created equal; Linda Tripp's ugly face represents an uglier soul