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.