Persons of the year?Hooray that The Advocate decided to include New Paltz mayor Jason West Jason West is the former mayor of the village of New Paltz, New York, who performed the first same-sex marriages in New York He lost his re-election bid on May 1, 2007, to Village Trustee Terry Dungan, and his term expired on May 31, 2007. , a Green Party member, as one of the people of the year [December 21]. West has "long advocated for gays' right to marry." Why? one might ask. Because of the Green Party platform. It reads, in part, "We support full legal and political equality for all persons, regardless of sex, gender, or sexual orientation sexual orientation n. The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes, especially a direction seen to be dictated by physiologic rather than sociologic forces. " and "The Green Party affirms the rights of all individuals to freely choose intimate partners, regardless of their sex, gender, or sexual orientation." Now you know why West supported the LGBTIQ LGBTIQ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersexual Queer and Questioning community! Shane Que Hee, Los Angeles, Calif. I was taken aback by your choices for person of the year. I think it speaks to the edges of the country not keying in to how the middle of the country works, reacts, or thinks. We have 11 states that have passed antimarriage amendments by huge margins, and a big reason seems to be a fear of the "radical" things going on at the edges of the country. Do you not see that the middle of the country is now set back even further than it was before in the fight for equality? The fight can't be won only in California and New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of or Massachusetts. Chris Wilds, via the Internet Mayors for marriage are your people of the year? Most definitely--had it been in 2005 under a Kerry administration. Unfortunately, by pushing for gay marriage in an election year, your people of the year (along with the Massachusetts supreme judicial court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere. ) helped ensure the reselection of Time's Person of the Year. Our so-called gay leaders' reaction to this debacle reminds me of Nader's blame-anyone-but-yourself reaction in 2000. What drove Bush's extra 10 million voters out to the polls in the past election? His wonderful record on the U.S. economy? Nope. His fabulous foreign policy? Definitely not. His environmental record? Try again. How about his push for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage? Bingo! Steve Baressi, via the Internet People of the year? For who, the radical right? These self-interested politicians have handed us the worst reversal since Bowers v. Hardwick Bowers v. Hardwick, , was a United States Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law that criminalized oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults. . Scott S. Ellis, New Orleans, La. Just as I was getting out of my depression over the election results, The Advocate's latest issue made me even more dejected de·ject·ed adj. Being in low spirits; depressed. See Synonyms at depressed. de·ject  ed·ly adv. . Are gay leaders, organizations, and media so much in denial in denial Psychiatry To be in a state of denying the existence or effects of an ego defense mechanism. See Denial. that they can't understand the new reality? How else can I explain The Advocate choosing three mayors as people of the year who may be courageous but certainly lacked foresight and strategy? I partly blame these men for the election of George W. and the extreme backlash we face. Mark Satterlee, Glendale, Calif. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion