Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

As a gay Californian, I am against Gay Marriage, and against Civil Unions. I am against special rights for homosexuals, or anyone else. I am, however, for Equal Rights, which includes Marriage Equality.

Is marriage a religious or a secular institution? If it is religious, by all means, have the churches define it and conduct it to their hearts content, each to its own, but then the government should get out of the marriage business altogether, and only dispense Civil Unions, regardless of the gender of the applicants.

So it would seem that marriage is a civil institution, as which it needs to be accessible to everyone, regardless of gender, creed, race, or sexual orientation. There are countless privileges and responsibilities associated with marriage, which no civil union or private contract can emulate. These HAVE to be available to all of your citizens on an equal footing.

PLEASE do not hide behind some older proposition about what "the people of California" have decided in the past. The rights of a minority can NEVER be up to the vote of the majority. Otherwise, interracial marriages would still be illegal. No, it takes a true LEADER to defend the rights of the few against the oppression of the many. The legislature has shown that it has those leaders.

ARE YOU A LEADER OR A WHIMP? Will you stand up for equal rights and against pressure from hard-core right-wing activists, or fold like an umbrella in strong winds?

Californians did not elect you because they wanted a Republican, but because you were an outsider, independent, someone who might not do politics as usual. This is what gave you an edge over Republicans and Democrats alike. And initially, you did not disappoint them. When you started your career as Governor of this Golden State, you made some very independent decisions, and your approval rating was accordingly high. But since then, you have fallen in the party line, and your approval rating has plummeted. Californians do not like party-operatives at their top post. They like independent thinkers who are not afraid to take a stand.

HERO or GIRLIE-MAN? You can prove your detractors wrong, and take a stand for justice and equality. Do you think you will be remembered for taking the obvious step and the "easy" way out? I don’t think anyone has ever made history vetoing civil rights. Or are you ready to make history?

In the long run, it will be up to the courts to decide the constitutionality of equal rights for all, so why not leave that question to them, and become someone worth being remembered?

You have disappointted a Californian like me, who is looking for a true leader that can show he has both a conscience and a spine.

THANKS for your veto on the gender nuetral bill, it wasn't meant to be for you. It is meant for someone else who is truely a hero.

This is what a true leader is like to me:

Rosa Parks, 1913-2005

“I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.?/P>

She was a woman who proved that the simplest of actions, when performed with conviction and courage, can change the world.
 
Her insistence on her right to be treated as a full and equal citizen was a catalyst for change that continues to resonate nearly 50 years later.  Her peaceful and powerful example has inspired millions of people and she leaves a legacy that will continue to guide us in the struggle for equality.
 
I deeply mourn her passing.

"Seperate but equal?" I don't believe in that.

Once blacks and whites were seperate but equal, now it's proven wrong.

When will gays and straights get out of this nightmare?

Sincerely,

G. M. Su 

Random note: I LOVE T'AI-PEI, TAIWAN! (And Kao-hsiung, T'ai-chung, and all the other parts of Taiwan.)