CORE VALUES

CORE VALUES

Leslie Stevens.
Published: Wednesday, January 31, 1996
Section: COMMENTARY

Regarding Stephen Chapman's column on gay marriage (Op-Ed, Jan. 25):

Just because one doesn't support the legalization of gay marriage does not mean that he or she hates gay men and women. Arguments like those espoused in Chapman's column are only divisive and unreasoned. He clearly has a right to express his feelings, but this commentary was hate-mongering.

There are many reasonable Americans, Africans, Asians and Europeans who are not comfortable with, and who do not support, Mr. Chapman's ideas about such marriages being legalized. Most of these people are not hateful neo-Nazis; rather they are likely the vast majority of the world's population. We have psychological and sociological boundaries that have evolved over centuries, yet certain core values have remained, and one among them is that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman.

Whether one supports or disagrees with this thesis makes no difference. It is important that everyone be treated with dignity, and columns like Chapman's are not helpful in sustaining respect for all viewpoints or in developing understanding of complex issues.

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