Rick Warren's Invitation

I thank E.J. Dionne Jr. and Richard Cohen for their Dec. 23 columns on the invitation of the Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration. They helped me -- a gay man in a 34-year relationship, an early supporter of President-elect Barack Obama and an activist for civil-marriage equality -- to understand my disappointment in the response of leading advocates for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Mr. Obama has consistently focused on the transformational potential of hope, reconciliation, redemption and community-building. Mr. Dionne focused on this hope and the hard and risky work of changing hearts and minds. In contrast, Mr. Cohen focused, as have many leading GLBT activists, on disillusionment and betrayal.

Did we understand Mr. Obama during the campaign, and do we understand now? I see the invitation through a lens of hope -- hope for finding common ground and building trust, and for changing the divisive politics of "the culture wars" as usual.

I trust that Mr. Obama supports full equality for GLBT people. I trust, but I will verify. Let's judge the wisdom of this invitation by how both a President Obama and the Rev. Warren assert the moral leadership called for by Mr. Cohen in support of the civil rights of GLBT people.

STEVE MELOV

Takoma Park

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Maybe Kathleen S. Rochelle ["Rick Warren and the Obama Inaugural," letters, Dec. 20] was on to something when she wrote so knowingly about homosexuality violating "the intentional design of human beings created in the image of God to procreate and fill the world with more human beings." And so maybe now, with overpopulation choking our planet, He's pushing homosexuality. Just a thought.

FRANK SCHOWENGERDT

Alexandria