washingtonpost.com > Opinions > Feedback
Letters To the Editor
Don't Let 'Family Values' Justify Bias Against Gays
Michelle Turner chastises county executive candidates Isiah Leggett and Steven A. Silverman for saying that they believe the state of Maryland should recognize same-sex marriages, stating that "Montgomery County has a vast number of residents who find their comments offensive and out of touch with a growing swell of opposition to the trashing of traditional family values" [Letters to the Editor, March 16].
What Ms. Turner misses is that in our diverse community of nearly a million people, most of us do not believe that people should be discriminated against because they are gay.
There are many families in Montgomery County headed by same-sex couples. Why should those families not have all the rights and responsibilities that civil marriage affords?
The family values we most cherish are those of caring and commitment. I find it sad that people use the phrase "traditional family values" to somehow justify prejudice against gays. In any event, some "traditional" family values -- such as subjugation of women to their husbands -- have long since been abandoned by most in our community, and we are the better for it.
Ms. Turner asks, "Has Mr. Silverman confused his home address with Massachusetts?" Although some in our midst may wish that all gay people would simply leave our county for Massachusetts, thankfully the vast majority of Montgomery Countians do not feel that way.
David S. Fishback
Olney
No comments:
Post a Comment