To the editor:

On Nov. 3, the Journal-World carried a pre-election Associated Press article on California’s Proposition 8 regarding the marriage rights of same-sex couples. The Republican former mayor of Folsom, Calif., was quoted as saying “as a gay man, I have a personal interest in Prop. 8. My civil rights are at stake.”

As a straight man and a father of five, who has never had or been interesting in having a homosexual experience, I, too, have a personal interest in this issue. Civil rights are at stake, and when civil rights are under attack for some of us, they are threatened for all of us.

On Nov. 4, a ban on same-sex marriages was approved in California, Colorado and Arizona, though by strikingly lesser margins than in the past. This is an issue that will not go away — as is true of all human rights and civil rights issues, in a society that is striving to be just, respectful and democratic.

Artie Shaw,

Lawrence