To the editor:

Justin Smitley, in his Feb. 19 letter to the editor, noted that he was voting in favor of the marriage amendment, but that he “understood the pursuits for benefits and protections” and that he hoped the gay community “will seek moderate solutions.”

I was wondering what “moderate solutions” Mr. Smitley had in mind, because the amendment he plans to vote for prohibits civil unions and domestic partnerships and, in fact, will prevent any attempt at the kind of moderate compromise that Mr. Smitley seems to favor.

I would like to urge all moderates and principled conservatives to carefully review the language of the second sentence in this amendment, and ask yourself if this radical attempt to lock certain Kansas families out of any kind of legal protection really has anything to do with “protecting marriage.”

Mike Silverman,

Lawrence