Gay letters to the editor

I’ve turned into quite an out activist! The preceding letter was one of a dozen I wrote and sent to various newspapers. It ended being printed in two newspapers. The day after it was in the Palo Alto Weekly, it also appeared in its rival, the Palo Alto Daily. So far, no adverse feedback. Several people at work that I have not explicitly come out to have said they saw my letter. I thanked them for mentioning it and added how important the issues are to me. There are probably a dozen others who saw it but are too polite to mention it.

I don’t believe the governor will sign the marriage-equality bill that the California legislature put on his desk. His ratings (poll numbers) are slipping and he wants a second term. However, I am very concerned about several proposition ballot measures that are gathering signatures for next year’s election. Not only would they ban same-sex marriage but it would also eliminate domestic partnership rights. “Voids and restricts registered domestic partner rights and obligations, for certain same-sex and heterosexual couples, in areas such as: ownership and transfer of property, inheritance, adoption, medical decisions, child custody and child support, health and death benefits, insurance benefits, hospital visitation, employment benefits, and recovery for wrongful death and other tort remedies.” If passed, this would be a hateful and bigoted law. It would make “out” gay people second class citizens. The scary thing for me is that in every state that this kind of law is put to a popular vote it passes. Minority rights have never been a popular vote getter.

Meanwhile, in the local Jewish press, the battle of the letters still goes on. First back in July, The J (the Jewish news weekly of Northern California) printed our wedding announcement. In August, they printed a wacko letter from nutcase who compared our announcement to pornography, Arab terrorism and bestiality. That was followed by four letters that supported us, our family and our marriage. After two more weeks, The J printed another letter from a reader who said shame on The J for printing the wacko letter in the first place. The writer said it was not an example of balanced coverage. In a snarky comment, the Editor replied homosexual weddings are controversial and illegal in California and banned by traditional Jewish law. This lead to another barrage of letters to the editor. The J selected one that pointed out that same-sex weddings are not illegal; they just are not recognized by the state and that many things are banned by traditional Jewish law such as interfaith marriages. The editor also added a final comment. They apologized for offending the GLBT community and wished E and I a mozel tov and a happy life together.