Other views on gay marriage

Re “Reneging on a right,” Aug. 8

This Times editorial states that most Californians’ desire that marriage should only be recognized between a man and a woman is inappropriate because the California Supreme Court has now said, on a 4-3 vote, that the marriage of gay and lesbian couples is protected by the Constitution.

You dismiss the opinion that the health of our children and society is based on the success of the traditional family unit. However, marriage and family were not invented by our Constitution or laws, merely recognized by them. Marriage’s root is in the creation and nurturing of new life in the only way that it can naturally occur -- between a man and a woman.

It seems strange to me that most thoughtful people recognize that the demise of the family deteriorates our society, and yet we fail to recognize the movements that continue to erode the family unit. Many of us have family members and friends who have same-sex attraction. We want them to be happy and fulfilled. Nevertheless, most of us recognize that the perpetuation of the human race can only come from a man and a woman.

The institution that provides form and protection for that capacity is marriage. It deserves recognition, for the health of our society. One person’s change of opinion on the Supreme Court would change the constitutional definition you base your opinion on. One person’s opinion should not be the basis on which we make this critical decision. We must protect the institution of marriage by voting yes on Proposition 8.

Kenneth Carabello

Santa Monica

The disingenuous attempt to portray gay marriage as an “existing constitutional right,” as if we rubes don’t know the so-called right was created by a clever move by the California Supreme Court less than three months ago, is three-card monte.

Marriage has been consistently defined as a union between a man and a woman for more than 6,000 years, and no amount of sleight of hand by The Times or the Supreme Court can change it.

Mike Sisson

Redondo Beach

Medical science agrees with The Times. The American Psychiatric Assn. has confirmed that sexual orientation is natural, biologically induced, morally neutral, immutable, neither contagious nor learned and has no relation to an individual’s ability to form deep and lasting relationships, to parent children, to work or to contribute to society.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Assn., the American Psychoanalytic Assn. and the American Psychiatric Assn. have all endorsed civil marriage for same-sex couples because marriage strengthens the mental and physical health of couples and provides greater legal and financial security for children, parents and seniors.

When America’s premier child- and mental-health associations and their expert panels endorse marriage equality for the benefit of children and adults, there is no ethical reason for any person or any law to discriminate against gay people and their children. Laws should not be based on personal or religious ideas.

Kate O’Hanlan

Portola Valley