Editors’
note:
Sound
Off!
is
a
weekly
feature
for
readers
to
air
their
views
on
the
issues
of
the
day.
Submissions
were
made
via
the
Web
or
by
calling
800-485-6907.
I
would
like
to
thank
the
Log
Cabin
Republicans
for
all
of
their
hard
work.
The
way
their
party
wants
to
write
discrimination
into
our
constitutions
—
well
they
must
be
beaming
with
pride!
If
all
of
us
voted,
gay
Republicans
excluded,
Bush
and
company
won’t
be
in
office
waging
wars
against
innocent
civilians
and
against
civil
liberties
granted
by
the
Constitution.
So
get
up
off
your
asses
and
vote
him
outta
office!
Patrick
Guerriero
of
Log
Cabin
is
a
sell
out
and
a
traitor
to
the
gay
community.
It’s
pretty
sad
for
Log
Cabin
when
the
Republicans
don’t
want
them
and
they
are
not
respected
in
the
majority
of
the
gay
and
lesbian
community.
Why
is
it
that
most
gay
Republicans
are
so
discreet
about
their
views?
Because
they
know
that
they
are
wrong.
My
advice
to
LCR
is
see
a
therapist
and
get
over
your
self-hate.
Hopefully
the
million
gullible
gay
Republicans
who
naively
thought
they
were
voting
for
a
“uniter”
in
2000
now
see
the
George
W.
Bush
the
rest
of
us
saw.
The
GOP
platform
is
completely
anti-gay
and
Bush
is
leading
the
call
to
rob
us
of
marriage
forever.
Voting
Republican
this
year
doesn’t
take
a
brain,
just
half
of
one.
I
don’t
vote
my
crotch,
I
only
vote
for
people
who
support
my
rights
and
dignity
as
a
human
being!
I
am
so
sick
of
hearing
put
downs
on
Republicans
over
gay
issues.
Remember
all
the
good
Clinton
did
for
gays
when
he
was
in
office?
Do
the
Defense
of
Marriage
Act
and
Don’t
Ask
Don’t
Tell
ring
a
bell
for
anybody?
I
was
at
the
gym
on
an
Army
base
watching
when
President
Bush
went
on
TV
making
his
ridiculous
call
for
a
constitutional
amendment
to
ban
gay
marriage.
The
sound
on
the
TV
was
turned
down,
but
there
was
a
caption
under
Bush’s
face
that
read
“A
Preemptive
Strike?”
referring
to
this
federal
marriage
amendment.
A
soldier
walked
past
me,
noticed
the
caption
and
asked,
“Who’s
Bush
attacking
now?”
I
replied,
“The
U.S.
Constitution.”
The
Constitution
is
not
in
place
to
provide
protection
for
the
religious
institution
of
marriage
but
rather
for
the
protection
of
all
the
citizens
of
the
United
States.
“Marriage”
is
a
term
that
is
waved
like
a
flag
by
conservatives
and
traditionalists
and
it
is
used
as
banner
by
the
“right”
all
the
time.
So
how
is
it
that
when
it
comes
to
gay
“marriage,”
suddenly
it’s
too
liberal,
and
not
acceptable?
Give
heterosexuals
and
homosexuals
equal
rights:
Ban
all
marriage
in
the
USA!
Every
gay
and
lesbian
tax-paying
citizen
in
the
U.S.
must
file
a
heterosexually-biased
government
tax
return
this
year.
But
where
we
have
the
option
of
choosing
to
file
“single,”
“married,”
“married
filing
jointly,”
etc.,
wouldn’t
it
be
fun
if
every
gay
person
crossed
out
those
options
and
wrote
“GAY”
or
“LESBIAN”
in
its
place?
If
marriage
is
“the
most
fundamental
institution
of
civilization”
according
to
George
Bush,
what
is
divorce?
Surely
then
divorce
is
the
destruction
of
the
most
fundamental
institution
of
civilization
and
what,
then,
is
the
president
doing
to
bring
about
the
end
of
divorce?
It
looks
like
the
queer
community
is
getting
dissed
from
all
sides
—
not
just
by
the
usual
Republican
suspects
but
by
fair-weather
“friends”
among
the
leading
Democratic
candidates.
John
Kerry
has
explicitly
stated
he
supports
an
anti-gay
marriage
amendment
to
the
Massachusetts
Constitution.
With
friends
like
these,
who
needs
enemies?
We’re
being
asked
to
cast
our
votes
for
“kinder
and
gentler”
bigotry.
There
are
two
candidates
in
the
race
—
Dennis
Kucinich
and
Al
Sharpton
—
who
support
gay
marriage.
They
have
been
largely
ignored
by
the
media
and
marginalized
by
the
pundits,
but
they
represent
our
best
hope
of
influencing
the
Democratic
Party’s
platform
and
its
eventual
nominee.
