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The Best and Worst of National News for July according to GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is out, and Kenny Be — yes, Kenny Be,Westword’s sensitive and insightful staff cartoonist — is on the hit list. Here’s the story from GLAAD’s website:
THE WORST
The Denver Westword Prints Anti-LGBT Slur; Allows Abusive Commentary to Follow
In a July 22 comic, The Denver Westword published a cartoon in its ‘Kenny Be’ series that used the anti-gay slur f*g. The comic depicts a series of camper archetypes, one of which illustrates a type of camper who spends exorbitant amounts of money on camping gear — a person the comic calls a “Gear f*g.” The Westword also featured the comic on its website which prompted online users to attack any reader who expressed concern with the defamatory term. Numerous comments are showcased including, “f*g,” “queer,” “priss,” “limp wrist,” and one user even advocated violence against another. “You deserve whatever terrible things happen to you and I have no sympathy.”
The site includes a link to the offending comic — from Kenny’s two-page spread on camping — and also “urges you to contact The Denver Westword and express your concern over its decision to publish an anti-gay slur and the subsequent defamatory online responses. This kind of language creates a hostile climate for LGBT people and contributes to putting our community in harm’s way.”
Here’s a faster address than the one GLAAD provided: Patricia.Calhoun@westword.com. Or just post your comment below.
