Demonstrations by AIDS Activists

In response to a quiet demonstration staged by 10 AIDS activists during mass at a Catholic Church, Mahony is quoted as saying, “This isn’t the first time . . . we have been thrown to the lions.”

Mahony has the analogy correct, but not its object. It is gay people who are being thrown daily to the “lions” by prejudice and ignorance concerning AIDS.

In the same issue of The Times another article (“AIDS and the Arts,” Calendar) underscores that tragic fact by itemizing the toll AIDS has taken on the arts. Had the information the archbishop denounces regarding condoms been available, these artists might still be among us and creating fine art.

A recent photograph in The Times of an anonymous priest lifting his skirts to step over an AIDS activist is denunciation enough of the church’s position. Yet with shocking arrogance, Mahony can assert that he and priests who agree with him--and who for their own reasons have chosen lifelong chastity--are “proclaiming the truth as God has taught.”

JOHN RECHY

Los Angeles