Rainbow crosswalk not at all irrelevant, rated front page

By Medicine Hat News Opinon on September 27, 2018.

Re: “Crosswalk shouldn’t be used for advertising,,” Sept. 21

Dear John,

Thank you so much for your letter to the editor regarding Medicine Hat College’s decision to add rainbow colours to a crosswalk, and then the News putting the story on the front page.

I decided to personally write you back because, unfortunately, I am partly responsible for some of your frustration. I don’t have affiliation with the college or the local Pride association, so I wasn’t at all involved in the process that led to the paint job itself, but I was involved in choosing to put it on the front page.

So, let me start off by saying I’m sorry. Between safety issues of paint on a road and having to read about paint on a road, I understand why you felt compelled to write in.

Now that I’ve made peace with knowing I helped ruin a September morning for one of our readers, allow me to retort.

Like many with a real problem admitting their general disdain for the LGBTQ community, you’ve suggested other reasons for your opposition to an initiative meant to display inclusion. Instead of putting your name to something I believe addresses your true feelings, you’d like people to take your side based on the dangers of paint on a road.

I could spend time debunking your claim, but you did that for me when you wrote, “It is the pedestrians who wear earphones, and are constantly texting, along with the drivers using their cellphones, that have made our crosswalks so much more dangerous.”

You’re absolutely right. Intersections can be a dangerous place, and everyone involved should pay the utmost attention. I think we can all agree a lack of attentiveness is behind most accidents, but you’ve clearly failed to show how paint on a road could make things worse.

In fact, what you’ve done is advocate for making crosswalks more visible, and it seems to me a nice bright rainbow will do just that. Thank you for the excellent idea, John. I’ve decided to start a movement to see every local crosswalk painted in rainbow colours.

Let’s make our streets safer for everyone!

Your letter also asks the News direct questions about our involvement in this story. You asked us why “a promotion for such foolishness (is) on the front page of the Medicine Hat News?”

You ask why we would put the story on the front page at all, and why it is so important when the LGBTQ community makes up only “two per cent of the Canadian population.”

First, this isn’t a News promotion in any way, as that would insinuate we made money running the story. We did not.

We chose to put this story on the front page because we knew it would be met with several opinions, and I think you proved that by writing your letter. You see, our job is to put the most relevant information of the day on the front page.

And what I don’t understand is how you think this was irrelevant information. You began your letter with a passionate plea for the safety of your fellow citizens, yet finished the letter suggesting we should have shelved the story.

Which is it? A real safety issue the public needs to be aware of, or an irrelevant story about “advertising” for gay people?

You really ought to pick one angle to avoid such obvious hypocrisies.

Lastly, you asked if this story is “what President Trump refers to as fake news?” You say we advertise not printing fake news, then finish by asking, “So what is going on here? Whatever it is, it’s madness.”

The answer is yes. This is EXACTLY what Trump refers to as “fake news.” When the president hears news he doesn’t like, he calls it fake. Apparently, that tactic has trickled down to the general public.

If you don’t like what you read in the news, you can simply brush it off as being false information. Yet, as I write this fake reply, that fake crosswalk is being fake painted at the fake college.

You’re right. Whatever this is, it’s madness.