'The staff mistakenly takes Peninsula's arguments at face value and on Peninsula's terms, wrongly ignoring the larger societal and historical context of antipathy toward gays.

During the Nazi Holocaust, gays, like Jews and gypsies, were herded into concentration camps. Today, on a regular basis, gays emerging from gay bars are assaulted. Here at Harvard, a student was reportedly "gay-bashed" at last year's Eliot House Fete. Last week, a Lowell house student's door was vandalized in a display of anti-gay hatred. And many anti-gay incidents still go unreported.

In short, gays and lesbians have enough problems without Peninsula. Peninsula's condemnation of the Lowell House vandalism was welcome, but entirely inconsistent with their latest issue which was released at about the same time. Peninsula's words, despite their many disclaimers--and despite their best intentions--only serve to buttress the distaste many people have for homosexuals.

Despite their best intentions. After reading the magazine, I'm not convinced that Peninsula's true motivation was as benign as they claim. Why did they pick on gays instead of the myriad of other "sinners" who populate Harvard College? Why did they pick a hugely inflammatory cover? Is the magazine's decision to pick on gays in this issue somehow related to its decision to pick on Jews in its last issue?

I don't know. I just hope that in the future, Peninsula will stick to attacking The Crimson.