Dear Editor:

After reading the latest Nicole rant and temper tantrum, isn’t it about time for the GLT to seek his retirement? Really … for him to seek immunity from critics concerning his health, friends and organizations must be the height of arrogance. Not even George Bush has asked for this! Now I’m reading that lawyers are threatening to sue your newspaper because of him. I’m not surprised. Now who really needs a column from a writer who complains about receiving vicious, slanderous, and hateful letters when he knows he’s been all of these things to others since 1973? It must be horrible to live with yourself knowing the gay community hates you more than hates any straight homophobe. Maybe others fear you. But I was never one of them. Maybe because I have never owned a business or been in the closet. I am hearing it’s becoming uncool to be associated with you. That you have gone too far making enemies. Felkner, Lehman, Gloria, mean nothing to me. If they mean something to you … I suggest you stop ruining them by running their names in your column. Familiarity breeds contempt, you know.

John Primavera

Dear Editor:

The parade order was a slap in face to our own community victims of AIDS.

Never had the parade had a moment of silence for our own AIDS victims.

The parade is about a celebration of who we are, not about grand marshals’.

If Ron de Harte, wants to make statements then he needs to step down and form his own group.

I have been going to the parade for over 16 years and have lost many friends to AIDS.

I want to apologize to the families of AIDS victims, partners and friends for de Harte’s actions.

Diane McHenry

Dear Editor:

I have to say that I find the whole issue of same-sex marriage has not only started off on the wrong foot but also on the wrong premise. By legal definition marriage is a privilege granted by the state, not a right of anybody including heterosexual couples. A license is required for marriage therefore legally speaking to marry without a license would be illegal, just as driving a car is illegal without a license. The issue at hand is the fact marriage is a privilege. The state can discriminate if they wish and can change the rules for who can be married in California at their pleasure.

Given those facts; what must be done is to revoke the licensing procedure for marriage, which went into place in this country as far back as the 1870’s. It should be obvious why this antiquated means regulating who can and cannot marry came into being. If same sex couples really want to put this issue to bed once and for all then the California Constitution needs to be amended to include marriage as a right not a privilege. Then the next step is to work on amending the US Constitution to include marriage as a basic part of the Bill of Rights. I am certainly not going to vote for a Band-Aid law when the problem can be fixed once and for all. How can the same sex lobby of California be so short sighted and constitutionally illiterate. Perhaps the best that could happen would be for the same sex activists to lose this one until they can properly fix the problem.

Sue Robins