June 09, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Editorial: The harsh politics of personal relations

The PTA Council in mid-April voted to oppose the Bush Administration's proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage exclusively as between a man and a woman. The action triggered a strong response by those who for personal or religious reasons oppose same-sex marriage.

The feelings run deep on both sides -- with one side seeing it as purely a civil rights issue relating to persons who have had their rights negated for too long and the other viewing it as a violation of the Biblical sanctity of marriage.

There will be no meeting of minds on this issue -- just as at Palo Alto's Human Relations Commission when a similar resolution came before it in early May.

But the Bush proposal to make it a constitutional amendment smacks of cynical election-year politics -- designed to divert Americans from troublesome economic issues and the nation's deteriorating position in the world.

The amendment proposal also further enmeshes the nation in the quagmire of mixing church and state. There was a reason America's founders insisted on such a separation: To protect the rights of all to worship as they see fit. Those who, in the fervor of their own convictions, seek to impose their religious views on the rest of the nation undermine the very traditions and rights they profess to enhance.

In so doing they ignore the reality that millions of Americans, by choice, genetics or environment, have a same-sex orientation -- yet live personally upright, responsible and, yes, moral lives in long-term, committed relationships that deserve legal acknowledgement.

Thus it was heartening to see that the PTA Council, after a full and open dialogue on the issue, voted 50 to 10 to reaffirm its original position last Wednesday afternoon -- becoming the first known PTA Council in the nation to take such a stance.

Hundreds of PTA members protested the April action, saying their voices weren't heard -- opponents submitted petitions with approximately 400 signatures. The reaction prompted PTA Council President Kate Hill to schedule the special meeting, and about 200 persons showed up.

Hill emphasized that PTA Council bylaws allow it to take positions relating to the health, safety, education and well-being of children and youth. The proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage would affect the lives of gay parents and their children, she noted.

There was a legitimate concern, expressed by PTA Council member Vicki Running, that the group should: "Take care of our kids. Go back to doing what we do best -- educate them. Stay out of the political arena."

But that is hard to do when the religious right in America is forcing an issue that should belong exclusively at the state level. And the PTA Council, as a private entity, has the right to take a position on what most of its members deem an important national policy issue.

We applaud the courage of the PTA Council leadership to press this issue. Any gay marriage constitutional amendment would profoundly undercut the advancement of gay rights, and local groups should do everything they can to stop this effort.

Rapid police response on new 'lion' sighting

Palo Alto police deserve commendation for a lesson learned about mountain lions: Let people know about them.

When a new sighting of a "possible mountain lion" was made last week along San Francisquito Creek west of El Camino Real, police officials immediately activated the city's dial-up notification system for about 2,500 homes in north Palo Alto. That the dusk sighting apparently could have been a large bobcat is irrelevant -- many persons received an appropriate warning about a potential hazard, in sharp contrast to the lack of a similar alert May 17 when a real mountain lion prowled Palo Alto neighborhoods for more than seven hours.

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