LETTER: GAY COUPLE GOT SUPPORT FROM HETEROSEXUALS

We applaud Trish Moore for her Nov. 14 My Turn column about "putting a human face on homosexuals." We are a gay couple from New Jersey who fought for the right to adopt our son jointly -- the same way married heterosexuals do. We were fearful about going "public" at first but took it on.

The moment we held our first press conference to announce that we, as a gay couple, were filing a class-action lawsuit against the state of New Jersey for the right to adopt our son jointly, we were shocked and surprised by the magnitude of support that came our way. We were equally shocked and surprised that it was predominantly from heterosexuals. Also shocking was the way the mainstream press covered our story with honesty, integrity, compassion and accuracy.

At first, we did not get much support from the gay and lesbian community. We think that our becoming very public scared a lot of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters as well as the gay and lesbian organizations and press. It was as if these communities did not know what to do with us.

Within our own community, we felt isolated and feared. Nevertheless, our battle continued on and, eventually, we won. We had become the human face for "gay" adoption and were accepted by people everywhere. It really wasn't until we won our case that the gay and lesbian communities as a whole embraced us, which now has been tremendously rewarding.

-- Jon and Michael Galluccio, Maywood, N.J.
[jgalluccio@email.msn.com]