To the editor:

This is in response to a previous letter in which the writer states that the “gay agenda” is spearheaded by individuals who do not have a clue about what discrimination is.

I take offense to the notion that gays and lesbians aren’t treated as bad as other minority groups. Because all the reasons that the right wing comes up with in denying same-sex laws, all of them, the most vital, the most pressing, sir, are wrong. Where does anyone get the notion that two loving and consenting adults should be before your God in order to be legal?

If the previous writer had a different idea of just how bad some of my friends have had it, then please inform the family members of Matthew Shepard, who was physically beaten and left for dead in a Wyoming field because he was gay. Please tell that to the hundreds of gay teens who commit suicide because they feel alone. And for all the reasons you come up with against homosexuality, please tell me why, sir, if you believe this lifestyle to be a choice, then why do young boys and girls choose to be harassed and beaten? Why?

But the point is, we still have a long way to go before people understand that just because they’re Christian does not give them the right to dictate how other people live their lives, and all of the reasons that Christians come up with, the most vital, the most pressing, are always, sir, wrong.

Matt Broz,

Lawrence