Good LTTE by a friend in the Leaf Chronicle (Clarksville, TN)

[bertha katzenengel]

Ted's letter

Snip:

"An incompetent GOP administration in the White House, an unjustifiable war with thousands upon thousands being killed or maimed, a national debt soaring out of control, millions without health care insurance, a world that once had nothing but the highest respect for America but now hates, hunger, poverty, homelessness, rape, murder, incest, child molestation, a 50 percent divorce rate! Holy mackerel!

"And with the mid-term election rapidly approaching, what does the GOP . . . think is the most important thing facing the American voters in 2006? Banning marriage to two loving and committed persons of the same sex . . . ."

You're all nodding your heads. "Yep, yep, yep." But to the communities of Clarksville, Tennessee, it may be a real eye opener.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. lets hope it does open some eyes

ignorance is the worst kind of blindness.

[Divernan]

2. Most excellent letter (from gay, So. Baptist, vet)- here's the rest of it.

LETTERS
Demonizing gays is not a democratic attitude


As a former assistant professor of psychology at Clarksville's Austin Peay State University and also as an ordained Southern Baptist minister (now retired), who happens to be gay, I wanted to thank you for the recent editorial on the political marriage-amendment ploy of the GOP . I now live in the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York with my partner of 23 years.


And with the mid-term election rapidly approaching, what does the GOP — the party that, in my opinion, is either responsible for, or doing nothing about, all of the above — think is the most important thing facing the American voters in 2006? Banning marriage to two loving and committed persons of the same sex (perhaps I should say "gender" since the fundamentalists in control of the GOP cringe at the word "sex").

Demonizing gays and diminishing us as persons, and further trying to legalize our second-class citizenship by denying us equality through a constitutional amendment, seem a far cry from "democracy" the administration is trying to sell worldwide. They are pandering for votes. We, who are gay, are fighting both for our families and for our very lives!

My partner and I have assumed all the responsibilities of being Americans and have even served our country in her military. All we have asked of our country is equality — and before our deaths! Is that too much to ask?

THEODORE W. HAYES

Kingston, N.Y. 12401

[bertha katzenengel]

3. It is an honor to know this man.

He frequently writes excellent letters. I've posted others.