Moving Forward on Gay Rights

Forty years ago, the headlines read, "One Small Step For [a] Man, One Giant Step For Mankind."

The headlines Thursday morning could have easily said the same thing after President Obama extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees [Politics Digest, June 17].

TRACY LEVERTON

Vienna

To follow Bishop Harry Jackson's reasoning, District residents should be able to vote on a referendum to deny African Americans their rights ["Same-Sex Marriage Gains Traction," front page, June 16]. What if the voters approved a referendum to define marriage as between a man and a woman of the same race?

Human rights should not be subject to the whims of majority voting. They deserve protection. Abraham Lincoln reminded us in the Gettysburg Address that this country is "dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." That's all that gay people want, to be treated equally. We elected our D.C. Council members to represent us, and that is what they are doing.

GIL THOMPSON

Washington