Letter to the editor on Marriage Equality

I sent a letter to the editor of the San Jose Mercury News last Thursday. I was responding to their front page story about public acceptance of gay marriage. The story headline was “Gay marriage: How comfortable are you with it? More Californians oppose it than back it, but margin closing.”

The Mercury didn’t print it in their newspaper but they did post it as the lead letter in “Additional Letters to the Editor”. Here is text of my letter:

Dear Editor,
Marriage equality is enviable. The cherished American belief that “all men are created equal” still holds true. It just takes time to become a reality. Originally it meant only white, free, male landowners were entitled to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” But over the last 200 years the concept has been expanded to include most minorities and women. One day soon gay men and women will have the same rights as heterosexuals.

In 1948 for example, California was the first state to effectively repeal the anti-miscegenation statutes. A poll taken at the time showed that less then 5% of the public were in favor of the decision. Nineteen years later, 1967, the activist judges of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously the state laws prohibiting interethnic marriage were unconstitutional. It took until year 2000 for the last state, Alabama, to change its constitution. Even then 40% of the voters were against it. It has always been challenged that racial intermarriage would be a threat to the holy and scared institution of marriage. A judge in 1965 said "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."
I suppose it should not be surprising that the same conservative and religious bigots are still around using the same old arguments today. In time, same-sex marriage will just be latest evolution of the institution.

E--- J---
A proud, gay married father
Palo Alto