The community responds…

In your Oct. 1 statement about your decision to discontinue running same sex social announcements, you say that your goal is to bring the community together. It could be that instead you are creating deeper divisions.

You say the announcement you published “caused pain and consternation” to the representatives of the traditional/Orthodox community with whom you talked. Perhaps you should have talked to other groups as well, especially those who have been caused pain and consternation by your decision to stop accepting same-sex social stories. I for one am surprised and disappointed by your quick capitulation to those of your readers who do not agree with you.

You site “the tenor of the times” in your statement. Reflect on the recent suicide of a Rutgers student who killed himself after his date with a man was made public and you’ll see we have a way to go before true equality for all people is the rule. Those who hate, the prejudiced, the bullies, have not gone away.

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The Jewish Standard is a serious paper. I am sure the decision to publish a same-sex wedding announcement came after much discussion. But I wonder about the discussions that led to the reversal of that policy. I don’t believe that, ostrich-like, you simply decided it was more comfortable to keep your head in the sand. You haven’t shied away from controversy before.