Dear Editor,
Will Haun makes several fallacious assertions in his article "A man worthy of office", but I want to focus on his assertion, in particular, that "preserving the family unit" means denying same-sex citizens and same-sex families equality under the law.
As the recent "Freedom to Marry Day" so poignantly reminded us last Tuesday, respect and fair treatment for gays and lesbians is not a partisan issue, but an issue at the very core of "American society's virtues and values," as Haun phrases it. The institutions that have endured from our Founding Fathers over the past two centuries are not the slave trade, women's lack of enfranchisement, and racial segragation, but rather our Bill of Rights that allowed women, racial minorities, and then gay-Americans the ability to advocate for fair treatment without fear of government persecution or repression.
By equating loving, monogomous relationships with "bigamy" and "incest", Senator Rick Santorum not only displayed his ignorance of the fundamental worth of all human love and committment, but also reminded us (through the subsequent public outcry against his comments) that drapping oneself "in the Founders" and in "family values," as Haun did, is no longer an effective shield against homophobic sentiment. In order to preserve America's virtues, Will Haun claims, "it takes a family." I could not agree more. The 2000 US Census reported more than 600,000 same sex families contributing to the American Dream today; tens of thousands with children. And no matter how much he might like to exclude them, exclude us from the definition of "family", we won't be left out. ÿWe won't be marginalized by the usual patriotic rhetoric and "virtue" in the guise of ignorance. In 2006, Pennsylvania deserve better.
Steve Bielinski SPA, 2006
