Dear Editor,

Clovis has recently received much attention for his editorial cartoons and I would like to add my few pennies to the pot. One John E Sabio wrote in his letter on July 29, “Clovis and homophobic cartoons”: “Yet, while his pen describes reality, it also often prescribes a deadly dose of condemnation, specifically on the issue of homosexuality. Clovis’s pen leaks not only ink, but blood as well… When he assails the LGBT community with his virulently homophobic sketches, he muzzles sensible debate by fanning the flames of the Bun Chic-chic man mentality. The most fatal consequence of Clovis’s sketches, which is not readily apparent as the bright colours he uses, is the blood that drips from his stained paper. He emphasises a woefully inaccurate stereotype… My request is that his dissent should not encourage a bloodthirsty mob. It is one thing to disagree, but quite another to inject animus. The latter, I am sure, cannot possibly sit well with his religious values, or if the case may be, his secular morality.”

Now I know a picture is worth a thousand words and that the pen is mightier than the sword, but to use words like “fatal”, “blood”, “bloodthirsty mob”, “assail”, is blatant overexaggeration, superb hyperbole and clear melodramatics. All this seems like utter paranoia and griping by Mr Sabio. Which of last week’s two homosexual-depicting cartoons seem to be conjuring up the mysterious anti-homosexual hysteria to which Mr Sabio is referring, and how does it or will it arouse homophobia and anti-homosexual sentiments across the nation? I fail to see how. I am even more hard-pressed to see how Clovis will be responsible for any alleged homosexual bloodletting that has gone on in the past or could take place in the future. Mr Sabio’s letter is a baseless emotional outburst, with no substance and nothing to substantiate it in reality.

Recently in the media as well, there has been much debate on objective journalism, media balance and political bias. Now if there is any fault I can find with Clovis, it is his clear political bias. The letter “Good job, Clovis” by K Whyte which states: “I have a cartoon idea for you. Show a meeting of comrades with everyone in orange underpants. Then have someone at the podium like Sister P announcing, ‘We need a few more volunteers for journalists and political commentators. Just try not to let your underpants show.'”Clearly the writer and Clovis have been caught with their underpants showing. I have always suspected it to be green.

Yannick Nesta Pessoa

cyber_yan@yahoo.com