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Anti-Gay Marriage Letters To The Editor: How Many Is Too Many?

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Biased By Choice?

The Editors, were they to respond to this, no doubt would claim they were reflecting the voices in their community. To which, one must say, so what? Isn’t the obligation of a local newspaper, whose reach is now all but infinite, thanks to the Internet, to teach, to communicate through knowledge, to form community, and to raise the standard of discourse? Or are Letters to the Editor merely a public forum for unedited, uneducated gay-bashing? What are Letters to the Editor for?

MyCentralJersey.com, which is run by newspaper giants Gannet and USA Today, has been stacking the deck with outrageous letters against marriage equality that clearly are so far away from the voice of reason, not to mention the voice of any community in New Jersey, that one has to wonder why they are being published, why so many are being published, and who is making the decision to publish them?

In case you didn’t click on all those links, here are titles of a few choice Letters to the Editor against marriage equality that MyCentralJersey.com saw fit to print. (Sadly, you’ll have to pay to read the full letters, but these abstracts are enough to get the gist):

“Weak bonds doom gay marriages.”

“Marriage definitions shouldn’t be abandoned.” (The entire letter reads, “Since their lover is not of the opposite sex, they cannot become husband and wife.”)

“It’s a civil union; it’s a partnership; it’s not a marriage.”

“Gay marriage approval would harm parents.”

“Gay marriage would have broad impact.”

“Homosexuality will never be accepted.”

“Gay marriage would not reflect public opinion.”

“Don’t believe rhetoric supporting gay marriage.”

“Facts are clear: Gay marriage won’t work.”

Get the picture? How many anti-marriage equality Letters to the Editor does MyCentralJersey.com feel the need to publish? Now, to be fair, they certainly publish Letters to the Editor in favor of marriage equality, but, to my eye, not in equal degree. And even if there were a one-to-one ratio, ignorance and hatred, ensconced under the headline of “opinion,” have no place in our local news, or our homes.

Take the most recent ignorant attack, today’s “Gay marriage not a civil right.” (When did we stop using verbs?) Author of the letter, Robert T. Heath, writes,

“Homosexuality is a form of same-sex relationships involving practices and behaviors that have always been understood as abnormal, unhealthy, immoral, and destructive to the fabric of any society. That fact is never going to change despite all the misinformation, lies, and deception propagated by its “advocates.”

“Who in their right mind would want our children to be taught and encouraged about homosexual lifestyles and behaviors when they are not even close to being sexually active? Yet this is already being presented in “educational” books and subtle media presentations to “indoctrinate” a way of thinking that will make homosexuality seem okay.”

Really?

As I’ve written numerous times now, Julian Bond, the Chairman of the NAACP, Coretta Scott King, Senator Nia Gill ALL agree that same sex marriage is a civil right. (Let’s not forget that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that marriage is a civil right.)

I believe in having one’s say, but it is everyone’s responsibility to hold reasoned, intelligent arguments – or spend some time with a book.

But my issue is not with Mr. Heath. No doubt the local readers of MyCentralJersey.com will roundly excoriate him, just as the readers of NJ.com did George Berkin. (Regular readers here will be pleased to learn that Mr. Berkin has not penned another piece for NJ.com since I wrote, “New Jersey: Just Say “Yes” To Gay Marriage, and “No” To George Berkin.”)

My issue is with the Editors of MyCentralJersey.com, who once again, for whatever undisclosed purpose, have chosen to publish among their pages, the ignorant ranting of an uninformed bigot.

A Letter to the Editor is not an Internet chat room. Every newspaper publisher has a responsibility to their community. It’s time the Editors of MyCentralJersey.com exercised that responsibility.

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‘You Don’t Care’: Gay Congressman Blasts Defense Secretary Over LGBTQ Troops

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June 13, 2025

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U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, a Democrat and the first openly gay member of Congress from Illinois, delivered strong criticism of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, accusing the embattled Pentagon chief of not caring about LGBTQ service members, and fostering an environment where LGBTQ people do not want to join the military. He also brought up the planned renaming of the USNS Harvey Milk, which the Secretary reportedly ordered to intentionally coincide with LGBTQ Pride Month.

Congressman Sorensen told Secretary Hegseth that Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, who was assassinated in 1978, served “courageously,” but was forced to resign from the Navy because he was gay.

“You see,” Congressman Sorensen said, “as a kid, all I wanted to be was the weatherman on TV. You know, I learned that I could have gone into the Army or the Navy to learn meteorology. But someone like me was not allowed. They didn’t want someone like me, Mr. Secretary.”

READ MORE: ‘Coup’: What DHS Secretary’s ‘Liberate’ Comment Means, According to Experts

“There wasn’t anything that I could do to change myself, or the way that my nation thought of me. And so I want to keep this very simple. Do you believe that Harvey Milk is a veteran who deserves his country’s thanks?”

Hegseth attempted to dodge the question.

“Sir, the decision to rename the ship was—” Hegseth began.

“I’m just asking, do you believe that Harvey Milk is a veteran who deserves his country’s thanks? Yes or no,” Sorensen pressed.

“If his service was deemed honorable, yes,” the Secretary replied.

“I disagree with your leadership,” Sorensen said, “because I believe that every veteran deserves our thanks. We all walk in the footsteps of leaders before us, and you may not find the value in the fact that many of those people are women, with different skin colors, different backgrounds, different talents, immigrants, gay, straight, transgender, disabled.”

READ MORE: In Reversal, Trump Uses Term Tied to Ethnic Cleansing Amid Renewed Mass Deportation Demand

“You may want to change it, but you can’t. Because the America that you and I both serve is a place where everyone has the ability—or should have the ability—to grow up and be the hero their grandpa was. I wanted to do that when I was a kid.”

“We’re going back to that time,” the congressman warned. “Gay kids like me, they don’t want to go into the Army. They don’t want to go into the Navy, because you don’t care for them. It’s happening all over our country.”

“My grandpa taught me never to judge the value of a veteran’s service. And I hope, Mr. Secretary, you learn to do the same in your capacity, and you can find it in your heart, to make that part of your process.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Democrats Demand Noem Testify After Handcuffing of US Senator Padilla

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‘Coup’: What DHS Secretary’s ‘Liberate’ Comment Means, According to Experts

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2 days ago

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June 13, 2025

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Before her protective squad forcibly removed, detained, and handcuffed a sitting U.S. Senator asking a question at her Los Angeles press conference, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem delivered remarks that legal and political experts warn are explosive.

“We are not going away,” Secretary Noem vowed, regarding herself and her Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, other DHS operatives, and the U.S. Military, all of whom she promised would “continue to sustain and increase our operations in this city.”

“We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country here,” she declared, referring to Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom and Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Experts are once again sounding the alarm.

READ MORE: In Reversal, Trump Uses Term Tied to Ethnic Cleansing Amid Renewed Mass Deportation Demand

“I think the governor and mayor of Los Angeles are right,” declared U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) on MSNBC on Thursday night. “I think they’re testing out their ability to essentially commandeer National Guards throughout the country, and use them for their own purposes.”

“One thing that got lost in the horrendous treatment of Alex Padilla today,” Schiff continued, “was what Kristi Noem said at that press conference in saying that it was necessary to have these troops there to ‘liberate’ the city from the socialists. That’s the kind of rhetoric the administration is using.”

He went on to say that “the fact that they would abuse the military that way and justify it that way is unconscionable.”

Other critics weighed in as well.

Quoting Secretary Noem’s remarks, Harvard University Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe, a top constitutional law scholar, wrote: “Using military force to displace a democratically elected state government is called a coup.”

Former prosecutor and former Hill staffer Stephen Rodio remarked, “Trump’s regime is going to liberate us from the people that we elected to represent us.”

“Be clear on what she’s saying here,” wrote podcaster Joe Walsh, a former GOP Tea Party Congressman and now a Democrat and political commentator. “She’s saying that Trump is going to use the U.S. military to overthrow both the duly elected Mayor of Los Angeles & the Governor of California. I understand she’s not very bright, but, in essence, she’s saying the federal government has declared war on California.”

READ MORE: Democrats Demand Noem Testify After Handcuffing of US Senator Padilla

“Quiet Part Out Loud?” asked U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). “Sounds a lot like she’s saying they’re there to liberate the city from its elected government.

Lincoln Project senior advisor Stuart Stevens also quoted Noem’s remarks, then wrote: “That’s a statement of intent of a coup, to ‘liberate’ a state from legally elected officials. Then armed men tackle and shackle one of those leaders. Nothing about we are here to arrest violent offenders and support law enforcement.”

“The declared purpose is to undo the choice of voters. Nothing like this has ever happened in modern America except the insurrection of Jan. 6th, which Noem supported, including her support for pardoning those who assaulted law enforcement.”

“Greeted as liberators, you say?” wrote Wall Street Journal reporter Alex Ward, appearing to echo former Bush 43 Vice President Dick Cheney’s fated 2003 Iraq War claim.

“Do the decent thing and resign, Noem,” urged former U.S, Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH). “The world is watching.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Not Today Hegseth’: Dem Slams Defense Secretary as ‘Unfit to Lead’ in Fiery Exchange

 

Image via Reuters

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In Reversal, Trump Uses Term Tied to Ethnic Cleansing Amid Renewed Mass Deportation Demand

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2 days ago

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June 13, 2025

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Facing backlash from his base over an announced, possible exemption for undocumented immigrants working in agriculture and hospitality, President Donald Trump has entirely reversed course, now calling for the mass “remigration” of all undocumented individuals. The term “remigration” is closely associated with ethnic cleansing and far-right European movements, including the neo-fascist political party backed by both Trump and his vice president.

In a wild rant steeped in fascist and ethnonationalist rhetoric, Trump baselessly attacked the Biden administration and characterized all undocumented immigrants as takers costing the country billions—despite the fact that the undocumented population is a net economic positive for the United States.

“The Biden Administration and Governor Newscum,” Trump declared Tuesday evening—using his derogatory nickname for California Governor Gavin Newsom—“flooded America with 21 Million Illegal Aliens, destroying Schools, Hospitals and Communities, and consuming untold Billions of Dollars in Free Welfare.”

READ MORE: Democrats Demand Noem Testify After Handcuffing of US Senator Padilla

These claims are not supported by evidence.

“All of them have to go home, as do countless other Illegals and Criminals, who will turn us into a bankrupt Third World Nation. America was invaded and occupied. I am reversing the Invasion. It’s called Remigration. Our courageous ICE Officers, who are daily being subjected to doxxing and murder threats, are HEROES. We will always have their back as they carry out this noble mission. America will be for Americans again!”

Just one day earlier, Trump had declared that undocumented immigrants working on farms, in agriculture, the hotel and entertainment industries are “very good, long time workers,” who are “almost impossible to replace.”

READ MORE: ‘Not Today Hegseth’: Dem Slams Defense Secretary as ‘Unfit to Lead’ in Fiery Exchange

“Changes are coming!” he vowed.

“Our farmers,” Trump also said Thursday at a press conference, according to The New York Times, “are being hurt badly by, you know, they have very good workers, they have worked for them for 20 years.”

“They’re not citizens, but they’ve turned out to be, you know, great. And we’re going to have to do something about that. We can’t take farmers and take all their people and send them back because they don’t have maybe what they’re supposed to have, maybe not.”

“We can’t do that to our farmers and leisure, too, hotels,” he said, suggesting an executive order was in the works. “We’re going to have to use a lot of common sense on that.”

All that appears to have been a blip.

READ MORE: ‘Mouthpiece for the Kremlin’: Rubio Scorched for ‘Russia Day’ Congratulations

 

Image via Reuters

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