Marriage is between one woman and one man, and biology dictates that only a woman and a man can produce off-spring. How fortunate that same-sex couples cannot produce children.

If the courts want to engage in social engineering, they will only create ethical chaos. In a democracy, the wish of the majority should be the rule and not the tyranny of a minority.

Klaus Wyrtki

Two shining examples were reported just recently in the very same issue of your newspaper. One article reported that attorneys for the state of Hawaii argued that children need a father in the home along with a mother, and therefore same-sex marriages are unwise and undesirable.

As a lifelong homosexual male who has contributed heavily to an institution for homeless and abused children, and who closely cooperated with law enforcement, religious and social organizations in protecting the young from sexual and other forms of predatory misconduct, I am disgusted.

This disgust is mainly with certain self-serving Republican "conservative" politicians and Christian leaders. It is quite significant that none of these sanctimonious, smug, self-righteous phonies who rail against same-sex marriages ever come up with workable solutions to another problem.

This problem was reported in the same issue of your paper for the umpteenth time: millions of biological parents of both genders who mistreat, abuse and desert their young offspring.

R.D. Jones

We were disappointed, however, to note that Governor Cayetano declined to be interviewed, especially since in his election and inaugural speeches he pledged an "open government." We have seen no evidence of any ordinary, let alone extraordinary, efforts to implement that pledge.

We would encourage the governor to issue a directive to all agency heads, requiring them not only to comply with the letter of the law but to adhere to its intent and spirit, and list specific actions taken to open up government.

The governor sets the standards, and he must follow his rhetoric with action. Unfortunately, in the trenches, too many bureaucrats regard citizen requests for "their information" as a nuisance and an interruption to their work. They rarely adopt a pro-active approach to encouraging a well-informed citizenry.

Let's have some real leadership from a governor who pledged "open government," from an attorney general who pledged to be the "people's attorney general" and from legislators who often pledge to restore "confidence in government."

Let all these insiders be on the side of the people and not favoring special interests.

Desmond J. Byrne
Chairman
Common Cause Hawaii

Only John Radcliffe's quote, "Government is very open in Hawaii," was misleading and contrary to well-established facts.

Jerome G. Manis