Letters From OC Weekly Readers

'Mr. Coker's Report of People Boinking on the Beach Makes It Sound Like There Are Daily Orgies'

Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to letters@ocweekly.com, or mail to Letters to the Editor, c/o OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE
I am an addiction-treatment specialist and have a great interest in instant/improvisation theater [Vickie Chang's "Metheds to His Madness," Aug. 1]. I've thought for years that LGBT (and others) in new recovery would benefit from creating theater using their own experiences as a source of inspiration. There must be somewhere in Santa Ana that would be open to an "Instant Recovery Theater," if not the coffee shop or art house Ed McKie was trying for.

Sharon Gerstein, via e-mail

It really pisses me off that you think Santa Ana is the perfect place for this center.

Anonymous, via e-mail

NUDE ATTITUDE
I would like to clear up a few things about the article "Suits vs. Skins" [by Matt Coker, Aug. 1]. I do not agree that nude sunbathing at Trail 6 attracts people who "boink in public." People who "boink in public" do so in a multitude of places. Unfortunately, some of them attempt to do so on the public beaches, and the state Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) has chosen to focus its attention on the Trail 6 area at San Onofre. The naturists have always supported the DPR in keeping Trail 6 free of lewd conduct. Our Friends of San Onofre Beach flier says, "NO OVERT SEXUAL ACTIVITY. Nude is not lewd. However, SEXUAL AND/OR LEWD CONDUCT IN PUBLIC IS ILLEGAL and will not be tolerated at San Onofre State Beach. A clothing-optional beach is a public place, and the rules for good behavior are the same as for any other public place. If you wouldn't do it in front of a police officer, don't do it here!"

The tone of the article would leave one believing the naturists see [DPR Director] Ruth Coleman as a villain. What I made perfectly clear to Mr. Coker is that the policy change was driven from the bottom up. Ms. Coleman is relying on the questionable advice of her subordinates, who clearly have their own agenda. These are law-enforcement people whose agenda does not include providing for the diverse recreational needs of the public, or including the public in the governmental process.

The bottom line is that we have law enforcement making social policy by pushing the civilian policy-makers into giving them their way. This is exactly what happened in Huntington Beach last year when Police Chief Kenneth Small pushed for—and got—a public-nudity ordinance.

Allen Baylis, via e-mail

Matt Coker reported that "Ruth Coleman and Allen Baylis agree that nude sunbathing along the southernmost stretch of San Onofre State Beach has attracted people who boink in public." This is a misleading statement, as the southernmost stretch of San Onofre State Beach is not the traditional clothing-optional area at Trail 6. It is actually Marine-base property, which the state has no jurisdiction over. Furthermore, Mr. Coker's report of people boinking on the beach makes it sound like there are daily orgies happening on the Marine-base part of the beach. In reality, any "boinking" I have heard of happens between gay men in the canyons off the Marine beach, miles from the traditional clothing-optional beach at Trail 6.

The lewd-behavior problem will not go away by shutting down the traditional clothing-optional beach at Trail 6 because that is not where the true problem lies.

Rob Armstrong, via e-mail

MORE MIDWIFING
Instead of using their power in an attempt to control and restrict women, maybe OBs should accept the burgeoning interest in midwifery as a critique of the medicalized version of prenatal care they typically provide [Daffodil J. Altan's "I Want My Midwife," July 25]. They risk losing patients because a pregnant woman wants input into her care, wants more face time with the actual person who will assist her delivery, and mostly wants her health-care providers to treat pregnancy as a natural condition, not a disease. Kudos to CABO for helping women to know the truth about pregnancy care and childbirth and for reducing all the fear the disease model has created.

Katy Stoll, via e-mail

Thank you for helping spread the word about the closing of South Coast Medical Center (SCMC) and the lack of places in Orange County in general that support natural birth with a midwife in a hospital setting. I had the great privilege of being one of the last moms to give birth at SCMC under the care of Lisa Sherwood. When I signed on with Lisa, I knew I would receive a particular kind of care. The longer-than-usual prenatal visits covered all of the standard tests and discussions in addition to any questions, concerns or reservations I had. She is at once a friend and a consummate professional. She was present in a way that I never experienced in previous prenatal care; as a result, I had complete confidence in my body's ability to give birth naturally, and I had a peaceful, four-hour labor and a beautiful, healthy baby girl as a result. There is not a doubt in my mind that the care I received made this possible. Childbirth is a normal life process. I only hope and pray my daughter has the same choice of midwifery care available to her.

Christie Hall, Laguna Beach

CORRECTION
Vickie Chang's Aug. 8 edition of Trendzilla contained a misspelling of Brian Lasek's name. The Weekly regrets the error.