As a physician, I would like to offer two facts (some might call them inconvenient) about the gay marriage issue.

* Scientists discovered several years ago that by blocking testosterone at a certain point in the developing male sheep fetus, that male sheep will be homosexual at birth. The sheep obviously has not chosen this path for himself.

* Homosexuality is not contagious. Contact with a gay man or lesbian will not cause heterosexuals or children to become homosexual.

Gay men and lesbians are human beings just like us and deserve to suffer the slings and arrows of marriage if they so choose.

William Griffith

Augusta