One of several letters to the editor published Friday in the New York Times:
To the Editor:
Even as we celebrate Barack Obama’ historic election, it should be noted that according to exit polls in California, 70 percent of African-American voters supported the gay-marriage ban.
I hope that the African-Americans who voted against marriage equality will eventually take to heart the lesson it took white Americans so long to learn: when we deny the rights we treasure to others, we only diminish ourselves.
Jack Drescher
New York, Nov. 6, 2008
The writer, a psychiatrist, is emeritus editor of The Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health.