The arrest of an important gay opera star and his husband on a serious criminal charge is undoubtedly news and almost certain to be interest to regular readers of parterre box. But we’re not going to follow this story for reasons I will offer after the jump.  

The first and most important reason is that parterre box is essentially a light-hearted site about the enjoyment of opera. That mission statement if you want to call it that extends pretty far, to arguments about style for instance and it includes a lot of gossip.

A criminal charge of sexual assault is in no way light-hearted and it is precisely the sort of thing that should not be gossiped about. There is justice to be done here and justice is very serious business that requires clarity of thought. I cannot think of a way in which parterre box can in any way enhance that clarity. On the contrary, all that can be accomplished by a gossip-oriented blog’s coverage of this story is the facilitation of the throwing of mud. for instance:

I am confident, of course, that no regular reader of parterre box would stoop to so revoltingly low a level, but on the other hand there are even some well-meaning comments that I can imagine would have the effect of further muddying the water.

This case has already raised strong emotions and will likely raise stronger ones. I ask that parterre box commenters take special care in addressing this topic.

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