������Ƶ

Editor’s Note: Longtime Hawaii publisher Dave Pellegrin sent this note to Rep. Gene Ward following Ward’s comments during the special session on same-sex marriage. It’s reprinted here with his permission. We’ll gladly print Ward’s response — if one is forthcoming.

Gene:

So gay marriage is like flying planes into buildings. Comparing marriage equality to the 9/11 terrorist attacks got you national attention — and requires a personal apology to everyone who lost a loved one on that day. You can start right here at home with Stuart Ho, whose daughter Heather died while working as a pastry chef at Windows on the World. Or with Rob Hale, whose daughter Maile was also at the World Trade Center.

Is your excuse for that obscene comparison the long hours spent on your feet denouncing SB1 (while also touting your business experience and fluency in Indonesian)? Were you tired and not thinking straight? Try to get a good rest before the start of the regular session.

Recall, old friend, that not only was I a guest at your and Faredah’s wedding, I arranged for the entertainment. Just three years earlier, it would have been illegal, based on biblical interpretation, for you and your beautiful brown-skinned bride-to-be to get married in Virginia — and in 15 other states. The judge or pastor would have taken one look at you and your dusky damsel and sent you packing. Do you see the irony? Today you want to deny a civil right on religious grounds the same way you would have been denied one 46 years ago.

I suppose there’s a silver lining for you. There were lots of little tykes lined up on Beretania St., pulled out of school and holding signs prepared at their parents’ churches. Lots of little true believers being groomed.

You demanded on the House floor that the government “stay out of our churches.” Not to worry. Your church won’t have to marry gays. You can continue to abhor marriage equality and the “homosexual lifestyle.” But once you venture outside your church, outside your bubble, you must obey the secular laws of the land. In Hawaii that means you cannot discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

Look, I don’t pretend to understand the brand of Christianity coming out of New Hope and your own church. I do know that, once Faredah had her born-again awakening in the early ‘80s, it was probably good for your marriage that yours followed soon behind. Happy wife, happy life.

Just try to live and let live.

With aloha,

Dave

About the author: David Pellegrin is the Chairman of Honolulu Publishing Company, Ltd.

Community Voices aims to encourage broad discussion on many topics of community interest. It’s kind of a cross between Letters to the Editor and op-eds. This is your space to talk about important issues or interesting people who are making a difference in our world. Columns generally run about 800 words (yes, they can be shorter or longer) and we need a photo of the author and a bio. We welcome video commentary and other multimedia formats. Send to news@civilbeat.com.