The following letter entitled, "Enough pettiness to go around" was published in the San Francisco Bay Area Reporter on July 28, 2005:

____________________________________________________________________________

 

Dear Editor,

 

I read the 7/7/05 Bay Area Reporter article entitled, “Faking the Team” by Jim Provenzano and I was very disappointed.  Too often the community has been labeled insular, bitchy, drama-filled, and petty -- this article does nothing to dispel that view.  Moving beyond the emotional history between the Montreal Outgames and the Gay Games; to individually single out Brian Jung in order to villify and malign his character is unexcusable.

 

Brian is not responsible for the divide between the Montreal Outgames and the Gay Games -- other individuals should take that responsiblity.  The reasons the atheletes choose to go to the Montreal Outgames are their own and have a much larger scope than being some part of a conspiracy to 'destroy' the Gay Games movement.  They deserve the support of their community.

 

Having known Brian for over 6 years, I can attest his integrity and values are beyond reproach.  I hope the Bay Area Reporter can realize that building community and support for all LGBT individuals should be the mission of this paper.

 

Sincerely,

Steven Danielson