Voters speak and gays are left to wonder

It is disturbing, if understandable, that the results of the election have left members of the gay community feeling rejected and condemned by the electorate [“Union and Division,” by Gina Piccalo, Nov. 6]. Still more objectionable is that supporters of gay marriage would blame themselves (and/or Gavin Newsom) for “jumping the gun” on the marriage issue. Homosexuals have been waiting for acceptance for millennia; how could they have “jumped the gun”?

Let’s put the blame where it belongs: on self-professed Christian voters who want it both ways. They want to be right about everything because they have a direct line to Jesus, but still be entitled to turn around and run a Sherman tank over everything Jesus said about love, tolerance and forgiveness.

Margaret Daugherty

Los Angeles

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I understand the uncertainty of the gay, lesbian and transgender community that Gina Piccalo describes (“Union and Division”). As the dust settles from the election and President Bush pledges to “reach out to Democrats” it is little comfort to me knowing that I belong to the most hated minority in America.

There can be no reaching out to America’s gay, lesbian and transgender community when exit polls confirm that Americans fear us more than Al Qaeda, and Jerry Falwell froths at the mouth that President Bush now has a mandate to roll back decades of hard-fought civil-rights protections and legislate us back into the closet just short of public stoning.

America has moved ever closer to a theocracy where moral absolutism preempts tolerance, compromise or even dialogue, and President Bush is their poster child.

Jon S. Robbins

Burbank

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If gays truly want to be accepted, they have to accept that some people don’t accept them, and if they can accept that, that will free them up so more people will accept them.

Bob Golub

West Hollywood

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This article captures the feelings of the gay community as of today but the bigger question is, what next? After just seeing “Ray,” I had to ask myself, where’s our huge protest marches, our refusal to take the bus, our boycotts, our anger put into action? That’s the next step. I wonder if anyone has grabbed www.marchoniowa.org yet?

Joe Becci

Los Angeles