The arguments appeal to emotion, not reason

Editor, The Times:

I am saddened by the attitudes of people in the state where I was born [“Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looms,” page one, Feb. 9]. Advocates of gay marriage seem to think that if a person disagrees with them that person is an ignorant bigot.

The issue for those opposed to homosexual marriage is whether homosexual sex is morally right or morally wrong. We believe homosexual sex is morally wrong. We believe that morally wrong sexual relationships should not be given the protection of law.

Arguments that homosexuals can be “good” parents, or that love can’t be wrong, are completely misguided and are meant to appeal to the emotions, not the reason.

Liars, cheaters, thieves, gossips and gluttons can all be “good” parents. That does not mean we should give their morally wrong behavior the protection of law. True love can’t be wrong. A truer word was never uttered.

Those opposed to homosexual marriage would say that people have confused love and sex. Love and sex are often not the same thing.

Marriage is the union of a man and a woman. It always has been. It always will be. The Washington state Legislature has no more power to change that fact than to make one and one equal five.

— David Robinson, former Washington resident, Talbott, Tenn.

People will marry just to save on taxes

I am sure that there are a lot of men and women across this country who are not gays or lesbians, but are living together in order to save money. Approval of gay/lesbian marriage will make these people very happy.

Since marriage won’t have to be between a man and a women, these folks will do better on their taxes and save even more money if they get married, too, by filing jointly. And there is nothing in the Constitution that says two people of the same sex cant get married, regardless of their reasons.

— Richard D. Lindstrom, Bainbridge Island

This will have a negative impact on the welfare of children

I am appalled by the federal Appeals Court decision to usurp the power and will of the people by striking down Proposition 8, which defines “marriage” as the union of one man and one woman.

The people of California spoke clearly at the ballot box that they do not want the institution of marriage tampered with. The ruling makes me feel ashamed to live in a land where justice is determined by handful of activist judges who operate not with gavels but with hammers and sickles.

Homosexual acts are abnormal. There is no gay gene. Not surprisingly, same-sex marriage has a profoundly negative impact on the welfare of children.

A large body of social scientific research indicates that children thrive best with a mother and father who teach them gender identity and sex role expectations. This was the conclusion of a committee of the French National Assembly, which recommended, in January 2006, that France not accept same-sex marriage due to its detrimental effect on children.

We need a president who will work to ensure that our judges are not guided by power but by the will of the people as stated in the American Constitution.

— Justin Tobin, Seattle