To the editor:

In reference to this approaching marriage amendment initiative, I am utterly disappointed in the frame of mind of the Kansas Legislature and, for that matter, the citizens. The same arguments used to suppress blacks in the ’60s are being used to prevent gays from obtaining their constitutionally guaranteed rights to the legal benefits of marriage that every other citizen is entitled to: religion. And it is wrong!

The fact is that there are some 300 rights, responsibilities and privileges that come with marriage and gays are consistently denied these rights across the country. Why? Simply because it is outside the realm of religion. It is not conforming to what religion dictates is moral. This is coming from the same group of people who advocate for pro-left, yet support war and capital punishment. Such hypocrites.

Joanne S. Smith,

Lawrence