GAY: NO LONGER COOL

The GLTF (Gay/Lesbian Tennis Federation) has a bylaw that prohibits the use of phone numbers and/or email addresses from its 300-member roster for commercial purposes.

I received a phone call years ago from a member I knew only slightly. He wasn’t very direct, so I feared he was going to ask for a date. Turns out he was starting a new career as an investment broker and he wanted to handle my portfolio.

When I explained that my portfolio consisted mainly of unused postage stamps, he quickly got off the phone.

Regardless of any civil law, or club bylaw, it’s basic bad manners to use clubmates’ contact information that way.

It happened again yesterday, almost Christmas Eve. This time it’s spam email disguised as a Christmas card from a couple of GLTF members. I know it’s spam and not a personal greeting because I’ve never actually met either half of the couple.

Also I think it must be spam because they include logos of their businesses, and, at the bottom of the page there's a copyright line. There's even an Opt-Out link at the very bottom. Come on! What kind of Christmas card includes an opt-out link?

This is annoying enough. But the content of the message is what really disturbed me. It is so unflattering. Art-historically it's a cross between Grant Wood and Diane Arbus.

And it hammers us once again with the bittersweet message, that Gay Is No Longer Cool.

----- o -----