Clergy Teach-In on Prop. 22
* As the mother of two boys, I’d like to thank the multifaith coalition of bishops, priests and rabbis who gathered to hold a teach-in to show that God loves all, including gay and lesbian people (“Clergy Attack Initiative on Gay Marriage,” Jan. 24). This is the kind of example I need for my boys to grow up strong in body and character. The mean-spirited organizers behind the Knight initiative who would ban same-sex marriages spread the kind of divisive behavior that I believe is a cancer in a healthy society.
HEIDI SNIVELY
Manhattan Beach
* Your article is misleading. The representatives from the Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran and United Methodist Churches did not represent their religious constituencies in campaigning against the Knight initiative. They were speaking for themselves and had no authority to speak on behalf of their church organizations. The Episcopal Church is meeting in Denver in August, where many believe it will decisively put down the homosexual incursion. The article intentionally sponsors divisiveness in an attempt to pit these churches against the Roman Catholic and Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints churches, which have established formal positions on the homosexual question.
OTIS PAGE
Arroyo Grande
* Julio Calderon is quoted (Jan. 21) on advertising about Prop. 22 to the Latino community as saying: “Having spent three decades fighting discrimination, I know bigotry when I see it,” and that Prop. 22 is merely about defending an institution “that has been part of . . . humanity for eons.”
Well, slavery, racism, female subjugation and child labor all have been part of humanity for eons. Longevity of an injustice doesn’t make it right. Discrimination is discrimination. Bigotry is bigotry; whether you like the group being discriminated against or not. Either America is a nation of justice for all or not.
RON SQUIER
Altadena
* Missing from the Prop. 22 flap is the simple issue of civil rights. The whole idea of civil rights law is to prevent discrimination based on factors that law-abiding adults cannot control. Were Prop. 22 to state: “Only marriage between those whose heights and ages differ by five inches or years, maximum, is valid or recognized,” the discrimination would be obvious.
Prop. 22 denies marital validity due not to sexual orientation (a gay man and a lesbian could wed) but to gender, which--transsexual operations notwithstanding--is no more within one’s control than one’s age or height. Therefore, Prop. 22 is a violation of civil rights law and, if passed, will be blocked and soon thrown out in court.
THOMAS E. BRAUN
Palmdale