Re: Denny Weinberg's Nov. 28 letter, "Customers boost for Lassen's":
I would like to remind Weinberg and everyone else that the protests in front of Lassen's are not in violation of Lassen's rights, nor do they object to Peter Lassen's right to vote the way he wishes. They are merely informing potential customers of the financial support Lassen gave to the Proposition 8 campaign and allowing customers to make their own choices based on that information.
Lassen can continue his support of Proposition 8 as long as he likes. Nobody is challenging his constitutional right to do so.
I approached Lassen's, where I have been a customer for many years, and saw the protesters and stopped to question them. When I learned that Lassen's had supported Proposition 8 financially, I was disappointed and alarmed. I am a straight, married mother and wife and also very liberal. Many of Lassen's customers are also very liberal because it is we "liberals" who long ago began talking about "going green," protecting our environment, eating healthy, advocating the advantage of organic foods, and being vegetarians for moral as well as health reasons. That is the substance of our patronage of Lassen's stores.
So it was shocking to learn that Lassen had elected to support Proposition 8 and deny equal rights under the law to those whose lifestyles are somewhat different than the "usual."
Proposition 8 requires a constitutional amendment to deny certain rights to a specific group of people. Stop and think how hideously serious and horrible that sounds and is.
Regardless of whether you support or abhor a gay lifestyle, you can completely ignore it without removing and denying constitutional rights. It does not have to be a part of your life. However, we are supposed to be moving forward, evolving, opening up and becoming a more tolerant, accepting and enlightened society. So when we see a store like Lassen's supports an amendment to the constitution denying same-sex marriage rights, it is only natural that we, their customers, would be upset.
I turned around that day and left the premises without entering Lassen's. I will not be back there again.
-- Jan Schulman, Oxnard