To the Readers' Forum:
A real ''Wasted Opportunity'' is denying this city of any opportunity to generate revenue. Most importantly, when couples come into our area they pay the city for their marriage license. these tourists also spend money at our local food shops, our hotels, or any entertainment our great city has to offer. Any guests involved with the ceremony cannot be forgotten for they too enjoy the same accommodations of our city. All of this income can be acquired without a single dollar spent by taxpayers in this tme of our country's stressful economic decline.
''A Wasted Opportunity'' draws false conclusions that same sex marriage is the only marketable Rabb idea. Furthermore, taking his words out of context to provoke an unnecessary and false image of Greg Rabb is not only unfair but also bad journalism. Greg Rabb is a brilliant and hardworking man who values Jamestown's prosperity above all else.
Same sex marriage is legal in New York state. Why is marketing same sex marriage for our city so unwelcome? The amount of negative feedback surrounding this issue can only lead me to believe that the intolerance for the gay community is still in full force.
The articles following ''A Wasted Opportunity'' also raise great concern. Our country was founded on religious tolerance and ''a wall of separation between Church and State'' (Thomas Jefferson). This is a civil issue, not a religious one. These couples want the same civil rights as everybody else and to deny them this equality is just as ignorant as not capitalizing on the tourism they will bring in.
Shawn Lawson
Jamestown