I believe Proposition 5 should never have been placed on a ballot.

It is the reason why the Mormons wanted Prop. 8 so badly on the ballot in California, and the reason why gay marriage approvals are facing repeal elections in a lot of states.

Opponents of gay rights know when people get to tell us how they feel anonymously in the form of a secret ballot or even a Yahoo message board, the odds are still in their favor!

Voters took a very basic civil right for the GLBT community-- to not be fired from their jobs or refused housing simply because of their sexual orientation -- and they turned it down. It should be a glaring message to the gay community that some out there say they don't care but still secretly harbor negative, bigoted feelings.

And that's just what the opponents of Proposition 5 wanted to see.

--Mark Manni

Anchorage