Dear Editor:

I write to take exception to the words of Bishop James Mathes of the Episcopal Church telling readers of the Gay Times to vote No on Proposition 8, the measure that restores traditional marriage to California after it was struck down by the Supreme Court in May. He states: “the Christian values of monogamy are enhanced for all by providing this right (same-sex marriage) to gay and straight alike” suggesting it’s a secret that many gay couples already practice open marriages involving multiple partners engaging in sexual relations with others, individually or sometimes together.

Just where is Mathes coming from, one asks, when all this is common knowledge?

He surely cannot mean by his “all” those in his church who regard marriage as a sacred institution not permitting any form of adultery – even that of mutual consent from both partners? If so, such pluralism cannot be in keeping with centuries of Christian tradition anymore than the practice of polygamy would be. This hat trick smacks of the kind of revisionism that has led his church to the unprecedented schism now tearing at the foundations of the Episcopal religion, forcing many true believers to split and to form their own congregations. Mathes also shows further ignorance when he falsly states our federal constitution “has only been amended to expand rights, not remove them.” Has he never heard of Prohibition? Just where does he think that came from?

While it’s true that love and committment are Christian values. But it’s not true that one needs a piece of paper first in order prove they really exist. Anna Nicole Smith had such a paper. But we all know her marriage was a sham. Mathes just does not realize the Supreme Court blundered when it tried to fix that which wasn’t broken. The facts are that gay couples already enjoy hospital visits, health insurance benefits, and leaving wills to loved ones under Domestic Partnerships; laws already been changed to create Civil Unions(note insatiable activists). He then speaks of a “changing world” Are sacred beliefs that have sustained many generations now to be abandoned for the sake of a fad? If so, he’s using false prophecy and toying with time-honored theology to beguile others. Principled gays must recognize his lure and act accordingly.

John Primavera

Sir,

I must give you my two cents regarding the current trial you in which you are defending the City of San Diego in, involving four San Diego City Firefighters who feel as if they were “harassed” while riding in the 2007 Gay Pride parade.

My nitty gritty: Did these guys (or their male/female co-workers) file a complaint while riding in the annual St. Patricks Parade (or any other event, for that matter) when women (and men, for that matter) yelled that they wanted to ride their “hose/s” or if women (and men, for that matter) asked if they could “drink” from their hose/s, or when they were asked to “show” if their hoses were hard? I think not.

There are innuendos everywhere, and for this group of guys to be sensitive to them at ONLY at a Gay Pride event is absurd. I don’t even like the changes that the Fire Chief has made to the SDFD’s participation in these events to “voluntary”... I feel that their experience could be looked at as sensitivity training in the very least.

Go get ‘em, Tiger!

Lisa N. Wallace