We have just witnessed the banning of gay marriage by the state of North Carolina with the passing of its Amendment 1, which restricts the definition of marriage to one woman and one man, leaving the love and devotion of all others out in the cold.

With the signing of SB6239 on Feb. 13 of this year, our great state of Washington said “no” to exclusion and “yes” to inclusion. Our great state now sees people as people, eliminating one more form of discrimination from our society. Gay and lesbian couples are no longer second-class citizens when it comes to their right to marriage.

Yet, not unlike North Carolina, some still feel they are better. Some still feel it is their right to discriminate, not on facts but on feelings. Some still insist on the segregation of them from us and are asking you to join them by signing Referendum 74.

We hear about the sanctity of marriage and how the denial of participation of gay and lesbian couples will somehow protect heterosexual husbands and wives from a force so powerful that, if not extinguished, marriage as we know it will cease to exist.

Fear born of ignorance breeds bigotry and with it we get individuals who are currently hiding behind church walls to spread their agenda of exclusion among the faithful. These pious people like to go on and on about their beliefs as if what they believe somehow gives them the right to restrict the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of others.

This gathering of signatures to overturn this great state of Washington’s progress is an ugly, nasty, divisive and cruel example of an intolerance we should not ignore. Not now, not ever.

Don Simon
Bremerton