# More fun from the homophobes (RO) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 7, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196 "2009-01-07T06:04:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/1 "2009-01-07T06:04:19Z")
Curiously enough, this one doesn’t appear to have explicit religious whackitude attached to it. [Seattle Gay Bars Receive Threatening Letters](http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/01/06/gay_bars_receive_threatening) > [@](#): > > Eleven gay bars in Seattle received letters today addressed to the “Owner/Manager” from someone claiming to be in the possession of ricin, a deadly poison. “Your establishment has been targeted,” the letter begins. “I have in my possession approximately 67 grams of ricin with which I will indiscriminately target at least five of your clients.” Text of the letter appears at the end of the article. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/2 "2009-01-07T06:07:08Z")
> [@](#): > > I will indiscriminately target at least five of your clients. Well, it’s hardly indiscriminate, then, is it? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/3 "2009-01-07T06:10:31Z")
I hope that law enforcement is all over this. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/4 "2009-01-07T13:51:23Z")
It’s unnerving, but I don’t think it’s anything to get really worried over. Some asshole crank wrote threatening letter, but won’t bother to act on it. I really hope I’m right. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/5 "2009-01-07T14:21:40Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > It’s unnerving, but I don’t think it’s anything to get really worried over. Some asshole crank wrote threatening letter, but won’t bother to act on it. > > I really hope I’m right. I hope so, too. I also hope that the police are able to track the letters and arrest the asshole responsible. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/6 "2009-01-07T15:42:44Z")
> [@The\_Weird\_One](#): > > I hope so, too. I also hope that the police are able to track the letters and arrest the asshole responsible. Comments about “what happens to guys like you in prison” would probably be redundant, as the letter writer is no doubt already obsessed with the mental image. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/7 "2009-01-07T15:59:47Z")
Am I a bad person for being less offended by the letter/threat than I am annoyed by the atrocious spelling on the [sign](http://post.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2009/01/06/1231291536_eagle1-6-09.jpg) posted with the article? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/8 "2009-01-07T16:03:15Z")
The grammar is pretty bad, too. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/9 "2009-01-07T16:20:39Z")
On the other hand, the layout is quite funky. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/10 "2009-01-07T16:31:53Z")
It is, overall, about the worst sign ever. Horrible even by gay bar standards. ETA: Anybody else parse the line “If you have abandon” as the reckless kind? That big space kind of throws me off. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/11 "2009-01-07T16:40:41Z")
5 clients is targeting pretty discriminately, especially considering that 67 grams is enough to kill a couple of hundred people (I think). ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/12 "2009-01-07T16:44:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > 5 clients is targeting pretty discriminately, especially considering that 67 grams is enough to kill a couple of hundred people (I think). Try a few thousand–it’s estimated that 500 micrograms of ricin is enough to be lethal. The delivery system can be a bit tricky. Still, I’d watch out for [umbrellas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgi_Markov) if I were one of those five. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/13 "2009-01-07T17:37:26Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Well, it’s hardly indiscriminate, then, is it? > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > 5 clients is targeting pretty discriminately, especially considering that 67 grams is enough to kill a couple of hundred people (I think). He meant 5 random clients. In other words, having blonde hair or driving a Ford or talking without a lisp isn’t going to save you. It’s a terroristic threat. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/14 "2009-01-08T00:08:51Z")
Yes, indeed. So when _is_ Homeland Security going to get involved? Or does this not count, because it’s fags? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/15 "2009-01-08T00:13:35Z")
You don’t want Homeland Security to handle this. You want an organization which can actually do something effective, like actually capture the offender. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/16 "2009-01-08T00:19:59Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > Curiously enough, this one doesn’t appear to have explicit religious whackitude attached to it. It might be less scary if it did have some religious whackitude. Does anybody know how to intrepret this bit? [QUOTE=OneScaryLetterWritingMotherfucker] …the targets won’t care much that they’ll be dead…as, presumably, they didn’t care that they were living [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/17 "2009-01-08T00:23:50Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Yes, indeed. So when _is_ Homeland Security going to get involved? Or does this not count, because it’s fags? The Seattle PD [claims that the FBI is involved](http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattle911/archives/158833.asp). And from the Dept. of Curiouser and Curiouser, [part of the text of the threat letter is copied from a poem by a gay writer](http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/01/07/good_work_sloggers). ETA: [Statement from the gay poet](http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/01/07/mark_doty_it_s_especially_ug). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/18 "2009-01-08T00:43:08Z")
Thanks, Hunter Hawk. You added a whole new layer of weird for me. The link to poet’s statement includes a link to the poem in it’s entirety. Does anybody know where to get tippy cups that are not pastel-colored or decorated with duckies? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/19 "2009-01-08T01:03:41Z")
Hmmm, so he knows some obscure gay poetry from almost 15 years ago . . . I’m going to make 2 guesses. -He’s a regular gay dude with no ricin and a REALLY twisted sense of humor -He’s a “former” gay dude who was “cured” by some whacko church ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196/20 "2009-01-08T01:39:47Z")
Given the precision and exactitude involved in producing ricin (with lethal doses measured in less than a milligram), I noticed this part of his threat “_approximately_ 67 grams”. Somehow that approximation doesn’t fit. It just makes me more convinced that this is a nutjob making empty threats. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-from-the-homophobes-ro/480196.md?page=2)