Letters to the Editor

The Chicago Tribune

Editor:

What if a referendum proposing discriminatory legislation was pending, and the press decided to get comments from everyone except the group that was to be discriminated against?

That's what Tribune reporters Christi Parsons and John Chase managed to do in their front page article, "Gay Marriage Shapes Up as Election Issue." Is this like the Deep South, circa 1960s, when local newspapers would discuss voting rights as if African Americans were not worthy of being part of the conversation?

The proposed referendum, while only advisory, nonetheless proposes to do away with ALL legal rights of lesbian and gay couples -- domestic partners legislation, civil unions, and yes, marriage. This means cutting off partners' access to health insurance, visitation in hospitals, inheritance and much more. By saying we do not deserve the same legal rights as others, it essentially says we are non-citizens.

This measure is being brought to us by the same hateful group which opposes equal employment rights, housing and access to public accommodations for our community. They have a long agenda of hate which extends well beyond lesbians and gays, such as enforcing traditional gender roles for women and backing the anti-immigrant campaign of dairy magnate Jim Oberweis.

For the Tribune to give such prominent coverage to the backers of this hateful referendum is bad enough. To silence its proposed victims is not only morally unconscionable, but a violation of the most basic journalistic ethics.

Andy Thayer

co-founder

Gay Liberation Network