I am angered and saddened by the defeat of Senate Bill 2278, the "gay rights bill."
Once again our state has chosen to dismiss the fact that a portion of our population deals with discrimination because of their sexual orientation.
Is being gay a choice? Certainly not. Scientific studies have shown that sexual orientation is innate. Do we choose to ignore science?
Then we may as well regress to beliefs of the past, such as scientific racism, which propagates the notion that some races are inferior to others, or the scientific view that women are not capable of rational thought and should not hold positions of leadership.
But our country has unequivocally legislated against these outdated viewpoints. We tackled women's suffrage, and passed the 19th Amendment; we tackled slavery, and passed the 13th Amendment; we tackled civil rights and passed the 24th Amendment (outlawing the use of poll taxes) and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (outlawing racial segregation and gender discrimination).
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When is the struggle for gay rights going to be over? When we enact legislation protecting our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender friends from those who would wish to dismiss them as deviants and unworthy of protection by law.
Colleen McKirdy, Dickinson
