Before we left on holiday, we sent our wedding announcement to several local papers. It was printed in the Bay Area Reporter (a GLBT weekly newspaper in San Francisco), the San Jose Mercury News (one of the top ten newspapers in the country), The Los Gatos Weekly (my old hometown paper; my parents still live there; and the first time they have published a same-sex announcement), and The J. (the Jewish news weekly of Northern California). All the announcements were very similar with a picture and a write-up of the service. While we were gone The J. printed the follow letter to the editor:
- Road to insanity?
Reading the Aug.5 lifecycles announcement of Edwin Jones and Edward Reynolds on their “marriage” and effort to destroy the traditional family: Congratulations on your friendship and union and success in obtaining legal benefits.
But married you are not.
Marriage by definition always has been between a man and woman since the institution was developed in prehistory to create a family of mother, father and children. It cannot be changed because a selfish minority of people want to do so (yes, Edwin and Edward, you are selfish because you have abandoned your children in every possible way.)
J. was a family publication; it no longer. That photo and accompanying article are pornographic. What will J. endorse next? Guns for Arabs in the name of equality? Compassion for Nazi murderers who were “only doing their job”? Celebrate the “marriage” between a Muslim bomber and his camel?
Please do not continue on your suicidal road to insanity. Write and do what is correct, not what a tiny minority dictates.
name withheld by GuyDads (I don’t want to give him more personal credit), Lodi, CA
The next week’s issues had four letters of support towards us, our family and our marriage. Two were written by people who attended our wedding. The two other letters were written by people we don’t know.
We are a bit surprised that The J. published the attacking letter, but maybe the staff felt that publishing an extreme reaction, the ridiculous stance would be even the more evident.It will be interesting to see what further reactions, if any, occur. We hope some other same-sex marriage is soon in The J. again just to show that we are not the only "selfish" ones out there.
More power to you guys. What a crazy letter. I went to the J.'s website and read the supportive letters in response, and this line especially resonates: "It seems to me that the clearly homophobic and racist tone of [—]'s letter is the bigger threat to j.’s standing as a family publication than the announcement of a union characterized by family acceptance, inclusive theology and community celebration."
ReplyDeleteNothing like a little hate mail to welcome one back from a perfect vacation. I know it'll be a great dinner party story: "While we were walking across England, hate mail was accumulating at home."
ReplyDeletePlease, sit next to me. I don't mind if you're personally responsible for the crash of western civilization. With such a perspective, it must give you really delicious stories.
Ah, so it's you who are responsible for that whole destroying the family thing! Seriously, that letter is so ridiculous that it borders on the comical. At least it's heartening to see the supportive reaction that you received as a result.
ReplyDelete