Letter: Do the American thing and vote no on amendment

To the Editor:

It’s incredible to think that Minnesotans are considering enshrining discrimination in our state Constitution. Do we really want to return to the days when it was legal to deny to others basic human rights that we insist our military men and women protect at all costs – but only for us, not “them”?

“Them” – gay men and women who love exactly as “we” love, care deeply for their partner’s well-being just as “we” do, worry together over financial or family distress just as “we” do. They’ve served in our military to protect “our” rights even though “they” faced frequent and hateful discrimination as “they” served.

I know – I served with a number of “them”, and witnessed it myself. I still witness it almost daily; it saddens me. Are “we” so high and mighty that “we” get to decide who should or shouldn’t enjoy the same rights we demand for ourselves?

I’ve been to gay friends’ “illegal” weddings and shared the joy of their unrecognized marriages, wondering when we’d progress enough as a society to let “them” have the same rights my wife and I have. Instead, I’m in the midst of a society on the verge of institutionalizing discrimination. Unbelievable, and scary. Who’s next?

Our American system doesn’t allow us to rule with the religious ideology some use to support the “marriage amendment.” Our Founding Fathers banned that often rampant sort of discrimination; the very first right they protected was that of religious freedom — or protection from religiously-based discrimination.

The 14th Amendment requires that, in spite of personal beliefs, we protect all citizens equally – “[No state shall] deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” We’re all entitled to the same protections, the same rights.

If you support equality for all vote no on this amendment! To do otherwise is to ignore our U.S. Constitution, which protects us all from persecution.

We’ve made great strides toward making that promise a reality for all; let’s not go backward in November. Vote no. It’s the American thing to do. It’s the right thing to do.

Scott Bender

Red Wing

Tags: opinion, letters, election