Letters

Re “Gay marriage -- not so fast,” Editorial, Nov. 5

I completely agree that gays and lesbians shouldn’t have to wait for a more open-minded generation to reach voting age to receive equal rights. Homosexuality has been around all this time, but some people still cannot accept the fact that gays and lesbians deserve equal rights.

Having grown up in a world where being “normal” meant being attracted to and getting married to the opposite sex, I knew I was condemned to being single all my life. My life could have been more meaningful if I had been given a chance to get married.

This whole brouhaha about gay marriage showed me a glimpse of light at the end of the long tunnel. Although I have no more plans of getting married, I hope to witness younger gays and lesbians finally get equal rights to marriage ... within my lifetime.

Steven Valbuena

Long Beach

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Even though Maine voters saw no need to alter the historical institution of marriage, The Times informs us that gay marriage has “the moral right on its side” and is therefore “an essential right.”

And though there is little empirical evidence that “families and the institution of marriage” will be “strengthened” by same-sex marriage, those in the “strong grip” of tradition and religion are asked to believe that gay marriage is an inalienable right, benefiting both the institution of marriage and culture itself.

When will there be vigorous dialogue on the efficacy of same-sex marriage as a greater good for the body politic? Until that debate takes place, the gay and lesbian community may have to wait a very long time for same-sex marriage to become a national reality.

D. Paul Thomas

Pasadena

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Your editorial calling for equal rights for gays and lesbians, though welcome, ignores the fundamental obstacle to gay rights: As long as civil rights can be taken by majority rule, minorities will never be equal before the law.

You should condemn not only the loss of rights in Maine and California but the illegitimacy of putting these questions on a ballot in the first place.

Raphael Mazor

Long Beach

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Re “Prop. 8 Protest,” Photo, Nov. 5

Times editors chose to print the image of a man dressed in drag to illustrate the Proposition 8 protest.

Why would a seemingly open-minded newspaper use this attention-getting image? Do you think this is 1968?

These images are one reason why, in 2009, gays lost their equal rights in the Maine election. Shame on your editors.

Richard Kopelle

Rancho Mirage