Democracy in action

[Hazumu]

KAREN KAHN, Salem
The writer is co-author of "Courting Equality: A Documentary History of America's First Same-Sex Marriages."

CONGRATULATIONS TO California and all its lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens who have been recognized as equal citizens by the state's Supreme Court. The California court affirmed its 1948 Perez decision recognizing that the choice of one's marriage partner is a fundamental right, regardless of race or, in Thursday's ruling, gender.

Perhaps Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute and an opponent of same-sex marriage, does not understand the workings of democracy ("Mass. activists on both sides ready to help," Page A1, May 16).