Angie Rowland's statement that the gay community gives Brighton its economic lifeblood (Letters, August 14) hardly sounds like words of a hard-done-by minority.

Whether they like it or not, gays are a small proportion of the population of this city and this country.

There is no question that gays have been vilified, threatened, assaulted and even murdered for being different but so have blacks, Chinese, Asians, old age pensioners, fundamentalist Christians, Jews and many other minorities.

Many straight people in this city feel the gay community have moved from merely standing up for their rights to blatantly imposing their own lifestyle on the rest of us.

-Rev John Webster, Hove