Sex workers of the world untie!

The way in which Sasha broached the topic of lap dancing ["Don't fear the keeper," Sasha, Mirror Year in Review, Dec. 18] was typical of the way many smug journalists have recently presented the issues, replacing context with factual errors and mockery.

First off, Lili is an association of strippers (both contact and not) working to create an environment where we can openly negotiate whichever services we choose to provide with respect to our safety, health and personal boundaries, and those of our clients.

It is our position that the enforcement of so-called "lap dancing laws" has not curbed lap dancing, nor has it brought in any more bucks to non-contact dancers. Rather than pointing the finger at contact dancers, we'd all gain more by allying ourselves to demand such basics as salaries and an increase in the price of a go-go dance (stuck at around $5 for the last 20 years).

Sasha was particularly short-sighted and hypocritical when she condemned the dehumanizing detainment conditions of the strippers from Laval without pointing out that it was a result of common discrimination of sex workers.

It's too easy to get caught up in the age-old moralistic bad girl/good girl game instead of realizing that the criminalization of segments of sex work penalizes all of us by keeping us stigmatized and vulnerable to the latest whims of the Morality Squad. This precarious position keeps many women from coming forward when they experience assault, racial or sexual harassment or bad working conditions.

Lastly, contrary to Sasha's allusions, Lili St-Cyr often fell on the "bad girl" side of the dichotomy. She was one of the first in her era to strip "all the way." In fact, Montreal police charged her with "immoral, obscene or indecent behaviour" for her performances--a parallel charge to that being levied against many dancers today. She, however, won the case in a victory publicly applauded by such notables as the Chambre de commerce de Montréal. Yes, the art of striptease has changed, but its criminalization has not.

So, Sasha, stop tying your G-string in knots and help us snap the garter belts of social justice.

Lynn and CarmelinaLili, Montreal's stripper association

Health Bishops on the rampage?

Ayatollah. The word, in the eyes of many North Americans, evokes the image of a zealot. The Mirror is no exception.

In your Year in Review issue [Dec. 18], you took the liberty of naming a group protesting against tobacco sponsorships of summer festivals the "Health Ayatollahs." An ayatollah is actually the title of a leader in the Shia sect of Islam. However, since the Iranian revolution of 1979, when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power, the word has been associated with anti-Western and anti-democratic zealots in most of the western media.

This is incorrect. We would not use a title from any other religion or religious group to describe a zealot. For example, we would never use the term "Health Bishop" or "Health Rabbi" to describe the "zealots" in your year-end review. Nor should we tolerate the use of the term ayatollah in similar fashion.

If the Mirror is a "progressive" weekly, it should progress in its understanding of the world around it and think carefully before using terms in an incorrect and offensive manner.

Samana Siddiqui

Editor's note: The protesters in question are the ones who call themselves the "Health Ayatollahs"; the Mirror did not invent the moniker.

Limonchik's no Angel

Last month in the Mirror, you named "Soothsaying MCM sage Abe Limonchik" as your Angel of the week [Angels & Insects, Dec. 11].

I have known Abe Limonchik a very long-time since the '50s; we went to the same high school. You should have called Abe the Insect of the week.

Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary says an insect is a contemptible person. We helped him get elected in '78 when he first won, we worked very hard. He and his party, headed by Jean Doré, double-crossed us, which is why we will never ever vote for an insect like him or his party. After he and his party got elected with our help, it was "just us," not justice, for the people who helped him.

If the Mirror was not a family newspaper I would explain in greater detail what a real low-life the MCM and its people are.

Bob White