LETTERS

Dear Joshua Longobardy,

In response to "Art as Savior, homeless but still determined to create" (April 13, AWSI), how is it that such a story of devastation and intrigue be told without further inquiry? Is Ann Doll safe? Does she currently paint? How can her work be seen? Some of us might want to help out. Ann Doll could write a book and should. I bet she does have incredible stories to tell, and I'm sure her art is a reflection of those stories. Perhaps she should meet Kurt Borchard, author of The Word on the Street: Homeless Men in Las Vegas.

Thank you for that inspiring tale but it was a mere tease.

Best wishes,

Joshua Longobardy responds:
Ann is in Clark County Detention Center until April 30 on charges related to drug possession. Her work can be seen at
www.anndoll.com.

Hi Martin Stein,

Were you implying that skaters are taggers [in this excerpt from "I'm Stoked, Man," April 13]?:

"Walls across Las Vegas were going untagged Thursday evening as every skater kid in town—and even a few parents—turned out to the Hard Rock for the chance to see a world record broken."

If so, I think you need to do some research on the topic.

Editor's Note:
Our readers have been writing to one another here for several weeks discussing the meaning of life, whether you make your own destiny, etc., ad nauseam. Frankly, we've forgotten which article started this debate. Nonetheless, here's the latest, and final, installation, followed by the editorial answers to the Big Questions:

In response to Life Is All About Luck (Letters, April 13): It's true life is all about luck! But you need to make your own luck happen, not sit at home waiting for it to knock on your door and be handed to you. You need to get off your ass and do something to make it happen. Whether it's being at the right place at the right time or it's not what you know but who you know (especially in this town), being black, Hispanic or poor has nothing to do with it. It's all about how much you really want it. How hard are you willing to work for it? Life is hard enough, but you never give up. Always strive for your goals and dreams. If Mr. Hilton were to give up on his dreams, the Hilton sisters would probably be working at Burger King or be on Jerry Springer. So if you choose to sit on your pity pot and cry, while life and all its opportunities pass you by, maybe you better just stay in the 'hood and think about how unlucky you are.

Signed,

Okay, okay, for the record: The truth is, life is short and it means nothing. Keep your arms and legs inside and enjoy the ride. The end.

I disagree with Review-Journal columnist Erin Neff's April 11 statement that "[Jim] Gibson is ... a social conservative along the lines of ex-Gov. Bob Miller." Comparing Democrats Jim Gibson and Bob Miller does Miller a disservice and gives Gibson credit by association he doesn't deserve. Nowhere is the difference in their social conscience more plain than in each one's relationship with Nevada's gay community—who make up a significant part of the state's Democratic Party. Understanding how Bob Miller supported equal rights makes clear that Jim Gibson does not, and it's important that Democrats remember that this year.

On June 16, 1993, despite his church's stand against it, "social conservative" Gov. Bob Miller signed SB 466, repealing Nevada's sodomy law. After the repeal, on September 8, 1993, Miller was guest speaker at a luncheon sponsored by the gay Lambda Business Association, where he singled out activist Judy Corbisiero for her hard work and dedication in Carson City in the successful passage of SB 466. Miller supported repeal and celebrated with us.

When the Nevada Citizens Alliance in the spring of 1994 was gathering signatures for its deeply homophobic Minority Status and Child Protection Act, Gov. Miller literally went into the streets to fight with the gay community against it. He attended an outdoor rally at Reno's Wingfield Park on Good Friday, April 1, 1994, to speak against the proposed legislation. On February 27, 1994, he spoke at another rally inside Bad Dolly's gay bar in Reno, and the words he spoke there in support of Nevada's gay community were ringing. Miller said, "This is an effort to divide, and we will not be divided. There's no place for this mentality, this movement and this hatred in our state. Every Nevadan from every walk of life should stand together and oppose this petition." No governor before or after Bob Miller has gone that far in supporting equality for all Nevada citizens.

Disclosure forms for the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage in Nevada record a $1,000 donation from Jim Gibson and his wife on September 11, 2000, in support of the legally pointless and divisive Question 2. In supporting the Coalition and Question 2, Jim Gibson expressed his contempt for the separation of church and state, and his contempt for the concept of equal rights for all citizens embodied in both the state and federal constitutions.

Unlike Bob Miller, would Jim Gibson ever attend a gay event where he might have to explain why he helped turn tens of thousands of his fellow Nevadans into second-class citizens? Could you ever imagine Jim Gibson expressing support for a group of Nevada citizens his own church has spent millions of dollars to vilify and segregate? A group of citizens against whom Gibson himself donated $1,000 to be sure they were denied equal rights? His claim on October 21, 2005, that his donation was "not a contribution against gay people" is disingenuous because gay people were specifically targeted by Question 2.

His claim that, "At no time would I ever want to get in the way of [gay people] having the opportunity to do whatever they would with their estates or to have the kind of health-care decisions made at appropriate times for them," is far from endorsing the kind of equality Bob Miller supported over and over again; the kind of constitutional equality for all citizens elected figures are supposed to fight for and defend.

Bob Miller was no social conservative; he actively fought against the very bigotry Jim Gibson's financial contribution made sure was enshrined in the Nevada Constitution. Don't let Jim Gibson's support of Question 2 be ignored; it was a subversion and betrayal of Democratic ideals and for that alone Jim Gibson does not deserve to be Nevada's governor or elected to any public office in which he might be called upon to support and defend secular government and equal rights for all citizens.