Gay People

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The billboard worker owed money he didn't have, so he found a way to erase his debt: He let his creditor cover six billboards with a biblical passage condemning homosexuality. That deal backfired spectacularly, at least for the employee. Billboards are meant to be seen, after all. When sign company executives saw them a few weeks ago, they promptly fired the worker and papered over the unauthorized messages. But many people couldn't get over the sight of a half-dozen billboards in Buncombe County coated with the Old Testament words of Leviticus 20:13: "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be put upon them."

Activists, public officials and residents gathered Saturday outside an east Baltimore liquor store — where a man was severely beaten on Christmas Day — to protest violent attacks on gay people Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts told the crowd of about 40 people that his department plans to set up an advisory group to meet monthly to work with gay, lesbian and transgender people. "I want to come together as a community and make sure we connect and do the right things for every part of our community," said Batts, who became commissioner late last year.

The gay rights movement is little more than a collection of tactics in search of a goal. Since its beginning, this has been the case.This ''movement'' started 25 years ago when patrons of the Stonewall Inn -- a New York City bar catering to a gay clientele -- spontaneously rioted for two days. The rioters were fed up with their gathering places being randomly raided and with being roughed up by police, taken to the police station and otherwise being treated as second-class citizens merely because of their sexual orientation.

Last week, while driving to work, I heard an NPR story that included snippets of an interview with a woman who had just applied for a marriage license. This would not have been newsworthy if not for the fact that she was gay. On Nov. 6, voters in Washington, Maryland and Maine approved marriage equality laws. Last Thursday was the first day that gay and lesbian couples in Washington state could fill out forms and exercise their new right. It was a very long time coming, so I would have forgiven the woman for screaming with joy or drenching the microphone in tears, but that's not what she did. I didn't catch her name or what town she was from, but give or take a syllable, she said something like this: "It feels good to finally be normal," happily and wearily, as if she had finally set down a very heavy weight.

Nacen o se hacen? Are gay people "born or made"? That's a typical night's Chat on the recently launched Spanish-language Mun2 cable television network, seen throughout the United States and Latin America. Chat is a live talk show from Telemundo studios in Hialeah, Fla., with five young Latin Americans as hosts. Their mission: to attract 18- to 34-year-old Latino viewers who can call or e-mail the show in real time. Topics include religion, nationality and sex. During an episode about AIDS, the hosts (three men and two women)

I resent the continuing practice of this and other media outlets of presenting the gay marriage debate as an "equal rights" issue. It is not! Whatever arguments that may be made for gay marriage, "equal rights" is not one of them. A gay person has exactly the same marriage rights as a straight person. Specifically. a gay person is free to marry any mentally competent, of age, unmarried person of the opposite sex who will have them. What gay people are asking for are additional marriage rights, not equal rights.

As one who has been following the pros and cons of the gay marriage debate, one fact has gone unmentioned. There is no way to convince a person to be or not be homosexual; it is not a choice but the way one is born. For religious people, this means that gays and lesbians have been created by God to be who and what they are. Medical research has shown that gay people's brains are actually "wired" differently than those of heterosexuals. Why would anyone "chose" to be homosexual knowing that it would mean being shunned by a large segment of the population out of ignorance or hate?

Dumb, ignorant, drop-out losers killed the young gay man Matthew Shepard in Wyoming in 1998. Americans were genuinely horrified, but urban gay Americans, in particular, took the murder as a sign that they had made the right decision when they moved from the country (or, more likely, the suburbs) to the big city. They were safer in Manhattan, or Dupont Circle, or West Hollywood, or South Beach. But gay people put too much stock in smartness, sophistication and "culture" as signs of tolerance and acceptance.

Regarding the debate over gay marriage, gay people need equal rights in terms of whom they love and to have that love sanctioned by marriage. Gay marriage would bring financial gains to our state by allowing gay people to marry in Maryland instead of going to other states. The bill backed by Gov.Martin O'Malleyhas legal protections in place for religious beliefs and for religious organizations and churches. African-Americans should support gay marriage and remember that the Bible was used to condone slavery and other forms of discrimination.

NEW YORK -- Ronald Prince has lived a gay life since his mid-teens. Now 43, he readily recalls moments when he hid his homosexuality rather than face public ridicule.He could conceal his homosexuality. He could not conceal his race. Mr. Prince is black."A lot of times when you're black and gay, you don't know whether the discrimination is due to your blackness or your gayness," said Mr. Prince, who grew up in Birmingham, Ala., when it was segregated.Mr. Prince said he had learned to live with the dichotomy that is his life.

As one who has been following the pros and cons of the gay marriage debate, one fact has gone unmentioned. There is no way to convince a person to be or not be homosexual; it is not a choice but the way one is born. For religious people, this means that gays and lesbians have been created by God to be who and what they are. Medical research has shown that gay people's brains are actually "wired" differently than those of heterosexuals. Why would anyone "chose" to be homosexual knowing that it would mean being shunned by a large segment of the population out of ignorance or hate?

Reading Jean Marbella 's column on anti-gay marriage TV ads left me scratching my head in bewilderment at the actions of conservatives who routinely deny the facts ("So just who's 'teaching' gay marriage?" Oct. 31). It is an indisputable fact that gay people exist. So why the full-court press by conservatives to deny or mask that reality? The anti-gay TV ads in question claim that gay marriage will be taught in schools if Question 6 passes. This supposition confuses me as much as it does Ms. Marbella.

I was 4 years old when I was picked up after a minor fall and had my tears brushed away with the words "You'll be OK. You'll heal long before you grow up and get married. " But by the time I reached puberty, that promise seemed to only be for my three sisters. I had come to the realization that I was gay, and gay people were not even thinking about getting married when I turned 12 in 1968. I hadn't even yet learned a word for being attracted to another boy. As a culture we have come a long way since then.

Dan Cathy, president ofChick-fil-A, says we are shaking our fist at God by supported gay marriage ("Crowds flock to Chick-fil-A to back owner on marriage," Aug. 2). I would like to say this to Mr. Cathy: We now know that sexual orientation is not a choice; it is in our DNA, we are born heterosexual or homosexual. If you believe in God, you believe God made us in His image. Thus, God made both straight and gay people. Over the years, religious people have been able to accept that the world is not flat and that the sun does not revolve around the earth and that these facts do not threaten one's faith.

I resent the continuing practice of this and other media outlets of presenting the gay marriage debate as an "equal rights" issue. It is not! Whatever arguments that may be made for gay marriage, "equal rights" is not one of them. A gay person has exactly the same marriage rights as a straight person. Specifically. a gay person is free to marry any mentally competent, of age, unmarried person of the opposite sex who will have them. What gay people are asking for are additional marriage rights, not equal rights.

Regarding the debate over gay marriage, gay people need equal rights in terms of whom they love and to have that love sanctioned by marriage. Gay marriage would bring financial gains to our state by allowing gay people to marry in Maryland instead of going to other states. The bill backed by Gov.Martin O'Malleyhas legal protections in place for religious beliefs and for religious organizations and churches. African-Americans should support gay marriage and remember that the Bible was used to condone slavery and other forms of discrimination.

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops have drafted new guidelines for ministry to gay people that affirm church teaching against same-sex relationships, marriages and adoptions by gay couples, yet encourage parishes to reach out to gay Catholics who feel alienated by their church. The bishops' document, the result of a four-year effort, gives specific instructions on some of the conundrums now faced in many parishes. The guidelines recommend baptizing the adopted children of same-sex couples, as long as the children will be raised as Catholics.

Maryland had a chance to be a civil rights leader in passing the gay marriage bill and threw it away ("Failure of same-sex marriage casts doubt on measure's future," March 12). It's astounding how people mistakenly believe a gay person is making a choice or following a lifestyle instead of being who that person is, which is gay. It's as if straight people also have the choice of being straight or gay, and decide at some point in their life to choose being straight. The fact that this is illogical doesn't stop some people and also religious institutions from discriminating against gay people because of who they are. Bill Klemer, Timonium

Maryland had a chance to be a civil rights leader in passing the gay marriage bill and threw it away ("Failure of same-sex marriage casts doubt on measure's future," March 12). It's astounding how people mistakenly believe a gay person is making a choice or following a lifestyle instead of being who that person is, which is gay. It's as if straight people also have the choice of being straight or gay, and decide at some point in their life to choose being straight. The fact that this is illogical doesn't stop some people and also religious institutions from discriminating against gay people because of who they are. Bill Klemer, Timonium

It would be easy for Marylanders to look at Wednesday's federal court ruling in favor of gay marriage as being a bit like an earthquake — the kind of thing that happens all the time in California but doesn't matter much here. Although the ruling was made based on constitutional principles, it only affects California, and, at least for the moment, it won't even result in the resumption of same-sex marriages there, as the judge stayed his order pending more arguments. Many believe the case will eventually make it to the Supreme Court, where a decision would affect the entire nation, but that may not be for years.