I am a gay man, 59 years of age. My partner and I have been together for 40 years. We are and have been taxpaying citizens. We deserve the same rights as our heterosexual counterparts. Yet we remain second-class citizens, unable to enjoy the same legal rights of marriage in this commonwealth.

I am old enough to remember the Stonewall riots where gays and lesbians fought back against the New York Police Department and their campaign of harassment. And, they won!

I remember the gay and lesbian boycott of anything associated with Anita Bryant, who so vehemently campaigned against gays.

Now Pennsylvania senators have moved to enact a constitutional amendment to restrict the rights of gays and lesbians to have equal protection under the law in marriage. ("Panel OKs Constitutional Ban on Gay Marriage," March 19). This is an outrage to any gay or lesbian taxpaying citizen. Lawmakers who support this obvious religiously backed amendment do not understand the constitutional right of the citizens to have freedom from religion.

These lawmakers seem to be traitors to the constitution of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Therefore it is time for a gay liberation army to rise up, to defend the constitutional rights of lesbian and gay citizens in Pennsylvania and to take the rights that are being denied! We are second-class citizens who are obligated to pay first-class taxes! Therefore we endure taxation without representation!

Rise up, gay Pennsylvanians! Call for national boycotts on anything Pennsylvanian! Do what is necessary to gain fully equal rights in this supposed commonwealth!

JOE BRANDTNER
Beechview

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To no big surprise comes yet another pro smoking-ban editorial in the Post-Gazette ("Smoke Alarm," March 11), this time shaking an elitist finger at Minnesota bar owners for staging bogus theatrical productions to get around the smoking ban there.

The Post-Gazette vilifies them by showing the outlandish lengths to which bar and restaurant owners are forced to go to run private businesses on private property the way they see fit. The Post-Gazette would not be able to make these bar owners look like court jesters if laws protected private property rights like they are supposed to instead of violating them.

The Post-Gazette is accurate that smokers may be reprising roles in deathbed scenes, but it's up to the individual to weigh the risks of smoking and decide whether to smoke or not -- just as it's the individual's responsibility to weigh the risks of secondhand smoke and decide whether to patronize or work at an establishment that allows smoking.

Lastly, it's up to private businesses to decide whether to allow smoking or not, period. The law has no right imposing its will on them.

BART DONNELLY
Mt. Washington

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Here we are at the crossroads of probably the most important election in American history. And what are we offered by both parties as potential presidential candidates?

The Democratic Party is offering two candidates with strong socialistic platforms, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. And on the Republican side, Sen. John McCain is surely no conservative.

The two Democratic candidates want a quick pullout from Iraq and are campaigning against NAFTA (sort of hypocritical for Sen. Clinton in light of the fact that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, brought NAFTA into being and jobs have been going out of the United States at a rapid pace ever since. That must be her short-term memory loss coming into play.).

As far as the troops are concerned, what about our troops still over in Kosovo, put there by her husband more than 10 years ago? Will she be bringing them home, too?

The Republicans' offer of John McCain is no better. He is a puppet of the Council on Foreign Relations and the New World Order, all dressed in his "new" conservative suit. His home state of Arizona is overrun with illegal immigrants, he still supports NAFTA and thinks the Airbus tanker deal is good for America. What a slap in the face to Boeing.

These people are not good for America. It's a question of which party will bring the demise of America faster. Wake up, America, the road ahead is a very bumpy one; our sovereignty is almost gone. I hope it is not too late.

JOHN D. HOELLE
Bethel Park

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Where is the press coverage on John McCain's blunder in Jordan? A presidential candidate bases his platform on the war on terror, proves ineptitude toward his own issues by accusing Iran of sponsoring al-Qaida, and readers get a little blurb in Dan Majors' March 19 "Trail Mix."

Although the blunder is described as a "simple mistake," there is no simplicity in a major candidate spreading misinformation on the international stage, thus indicating to voters that he does not fully understand the war, which he believes validates his candidacy.

Ultimately, Sen. McCain's statement exemplifies ignorance of the diverse makeup of Iraq. This ignorance is frighteningly similar to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, during which leading military and political officials believed a communist Vietnam would unify with communist China and sweep Asia. In reality, after a failed U.S. intervention, communist Vietnam fought China due to an ancient conflict which predated French imperialism. If we had done a little research, we could have saved thousands of lives and prevented a war.

Mr. McCain's blunder was no simple mistake, and it needs to be addressed. I would suggest that voters think twice before supporting a man who doesn't understand his own political issues. How can we win a war when our top officials still don't know whom we are fighting? Misinformation started the war in Iraq.

So I have a message for Mr. McCain: It's called al-Qaida in Iraq ... not al-Qaida in Iran, so get your facts straight before you invest America in another war.

JACOB BRETT
Oakland

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I'm writing in response to the March 13 article, "Onorato: Deer Population Must Be Curbed." After slaughtering 272 geese in North Park, County Chief Executive Dan Onorato now sets his sights on deer and on turning our county's parks into a private hunting preserve.

Allowing hunting in our parks prevents safe access and use of our parks by county residents, and creates serious safety concerns that threaten our families, children and companion animals. In addition, hunting is not an effective strategy to reduce deer populations, but actually increases the deer population through compensatory reproduction.

Furthermore, bow hunting is the least effective and most inhumane way to kill a deer. The wound rate is greater than 50 percent, which means deer die after prolonged agony, and often in residents' back yards, traumatizing children.

The Humane Society of the United States has more than 10 million constituents, including more than 650,000 in Pennsylvania, and more than 10,000 in Allegheny County. I urge fellow society members and all county residents concerned with the safety of our parks and the humane treatment of our wildlife to ask Dan Onorato to reach out to the Humane Society to explore better approaches to park and deer management.

A workable humane program would start with a comprehensive plan employing humane nonlethal techniques, such as contraception, to meet management needs and control the population where necessary.

GEORGE G. NAGLE
Green Tree

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On March 8, I heard President Bush crowing on the radio that he had vetoed the anti-torture legislation. He disregarded his own military that required the Army Field Manual rules be followed in the interrogation of prisoners.

It is a terrible thing to be a member of the generation of Americans who lost the U.S. Constitution, our freedoms and perhaps even democracy itself to a criminal who managed to get himself elected to the office of president.

The evidence of his criminality and violations of the Constitution have been documented by legal scholars and by task forces formed by the American Bar Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the National Lawyers Guild. Stacks of books have been written and are available to skeptics. Even Republican scholars such as Bruce Fein have launched campaigns to impeach Mr. Bush and Vice President Cheney for their ferocious attacks against our system of law.

Congress stands impotent, weak-kneed and unable to act with effect. A show of protest is only for show. Our elected officials are afraid to win the fight to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.

Soldiers sent into battle fight to win, even when their own lives are in danger and may be lost. Our elected officials in Washington, D.C., will not enter and fight to win a battle if they fear their own seats may be lost in the next election.

It is a sad day for Americans whose children and grandchildren will probably live in a police state instead of a nation of laws. The protections once found in our Bill of Rights are being trashed as Mr. Bush "sprints" toward the end of his administration.

CARLANA RHOTEN
East Liberty

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