To the editor:

I don’t understand. How can anyone justify discrimination of someone or a group of individuals? I’m making reference to the movement to add a ban on gay marriages to the Kansas Constitution. Isn’t the constitution about protecting our human rights?

Sure, being a lesbian, this amendment feels personal; even more, being a human being, it feels hurtful. Having a movement striving to separate me from others, stating I don’t have the same rights is not just a discriminating message; it’s a message that I am not deserving of equal rights. This is not how I view the world. I believe we are all one and our world is rich in diversity, which should be embraced, not alienated or punished.

The justification of this ban cannot be from the heart and an open mind. To say that the ban will protect the sanctity of marriage to me is such a distorted thought and belief. This view certainly gives gays and lesbians a tremendous amount of power that is not possessed. I believe marriage, and the sanctity of it, is the responsibility of each couple that makes that commitment.

What is really motivating this movement? Fear? Hatred? A need for control? A sense of superiority? Such feelings and beliefs foster discrimination and prejudice. This has such a flavor of past civil rights movements: a group fighting to be treated as they were created, equal.

What does your heart think?

Pat Phillips,

Lawrence