SO WHY AN APOLOGY?

Oldtown News
Vancouver, BC

SO WHY AN APOLOGY?

As many of my readers now know I have apologized to a certain local blogger and agreed not to write anything for 72 hours on Oldtown News.

My time-out period is over and hopefully I can shed some light on this apology since I have been receiving a number of comments regarding the apology.

I agreed to the demand not to moderate through comments regarding the apology. I suppose this demand was made of me because the complainant probably preferred not to see any unfavourable comments written about him.

In fact, I received plenty of comments and they were in fact quite interesting, however at the behest of the complainant, I have fulfilled this part of the agreement.

So why did I apologize?

Well for starters no one likes to be on the receiving end of vexatious lawsuits and these types of actions I believe are often brought primarily to stifle free speech, however, when you don't have lots of money, fighting these conflicts can be costly.

I want to premise my remarks by saying I hail from a subculture which is known for its colourfulness, flamboyancy and often over the top language which is sometimes referred to as cattiness. This language or innuendo is not meant to offend but is used in a flamboyant manner to draw attention to funny happenings or perhaps even some hypocrisy.

The complainant in my situation believed that my words would be misconstrued by others to imply certain other meaning. This was not the intent of my writings and therefore I had no other choice but to comply with the complainant's demand for an apology.

If I had the money to fight this case I would have battled to the end and I believe would have prevailed. In fact, a number of lawyers informed me of this.

Someone suggested to me that I must feel humiliated having to apologize but I don't.

I prefer not to get into much of the details of this suit other to say that it is now over and I wish to move on.

i hope my work on behalf of the most marginalized, vulnerable and disenfranchised in society will continue to speak for itself and that this apology while a minor nuisance to me does not in any way affect, diminish or detract from the really important things to me which of course is speaking out for the less fortunate in our society.

Jamie Lee Hamilton
tricia_foxx@yahoo.com