Gays victims, not aggressors, in culture war
To the editor:
In your Dec. 9 edition, you published a column by Jonah Goldberg in which he condemned the tactics of protesters to the passage of California's Proposition 8. This initiative allowed the citizens of California to vote on whether to continue to allow gays the right to marry, or to revise the California Constitution to deny that existing right.
Proposition 8 passed, so the constitution was amended and the right to marry was stripped from California's gay citizens. In the wake of the passage there have been many protests by gay rights advocates. The Mormon Church has been the target of many of these protests, and rightfully so, in my opinion, as the church was undeniably instrumental in the passage of Proposition 8.
Mr. Goldberg would like to paint the Mormon Church as some kind of victim, reporting of rallies where protesters chanted "Mormon scum" and of envelopes containing white powder being sent to Mormon temples. Mr. Goldberg even went so far as to allege that gay rights groups "and their allies are the aggressors in the culture war."
While I do not support name-calling or pseudo-terrorist activities (the white powder was benign), I think there is some context that Mr. Goldberg is conveniently overlooking.
Matthew Shepard was beaten and abandoned on a Wyoming highway in 1998. He died a few days later. He was not an aggressor in the culture war. He was just gay.
Almost two years ago, Lisa Pond was on a family cruise with her partner of 18 years, Janice Langbehn, and their three children, when she suffered a brain aneurysm. She was rushed to a hospital in Miami, where hospital authorities denied Ms. Langbehn and the children visitation. Ms. Pond died hours later, alone, while her family anguished in a nearby waiting room. Ms. Pond and Ms. Langbehn were not aggressors. Just gay.
In last month's election, Arizona, California and Florida allowed their citizens to vote for or against the right for gays to marry. All three states voted against. Arkansas allowed its citizens to determine whether gays should have the right to adopt. They voted no.
I think Mr. Goldberg would do well to re-examine just who are the aggressors in this culture war. To date, I am unaware of any gay citizens killing straight citizens just because they're straight. And I am unaware of any one piece of legislation that would allow the electorate to grant or deny rights to citizens on the basis of their being heterosexual. If these unlikely events were ever to occur, I think we could expect not only protests, but riots from the straight community far in excess of any backlash that we will see from the passage of Proposition 8.
Julie Hall
LAS VEGAS
The price of civilization
To the editor:
Lyle O. Keys penned one of the most stupefying letters to the editor I have read in a very long time. In his Friday tirade against public works projects, he declared Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Dealism a failure and said infrastructure improvements "do nothing except create higher taxes."
I would remind Mr. Keys that were it not for public works projects, he'd be living out in the middle of the desert in a tent right now. Big government projects like Hoover Dam gave us all clean water and power. The Rural Electrification Project of the 1930s provided affordable energy to millions of people. The National Highway System connected towns and cities, igniting a half-century of interstate commerce and trade.
What do all of these vital initiatives have in common? They were all public works projects.
If Mr. Keys doesn't like the water he gets out of Lake Mead, or the electricity that comes from Hoover Dam, or the interstate highway system that connects his town (Mesquite) to Las Vegas, perhaps he should abandon all the comforts he now enjoys so he can save a few dollars.
Nolan Dalla
LAS VEGAS
No automaker bailout
To the editor:
Has it occurred to U.S. automakers that the reason their cars and trucks aren't selling is that they just cost too darn much?
Perhaps if they started from this point and then went backward to determine cuts in their organization and union-supplied labor costs, it would become even more evident to them that labor costs have priced them right out of business.
Let 'em go into bankruptcy to reorganize and deal with the United Auto Workers in a realistic way, instead of relying on Uncle Sam -- that is, the taxpayers -- to bail them out.
Adrienne Logan
LAS VEGAS
Pink slips
To the editor:
So, the state's employees vow to sue over the possible loss of step-in-grade pay raises (Thursday Review-Journal)? Fine. Start the layoffs.
David Smith
HENDERSON
