Monday and Tuesday saw a vigil at Cottey College supporting homosexuals. I have no problem with that. People can support whoever and whatever they want, it's the American way.

The problem I have comes when people try to assert that what is happening now with homosexual activists is in anyway a corollary to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Such an analogy is erroneous. The civil rights movement came about because of real oppression of blacks and other minorities by authorities. Today any 'oppression' of homosexuals is an entirely individual action. No Bull Connor unleashes attack dogs on peaceful gatherings of homosexuals and no George Wallace stands in the entrance of a school forbidding homosexuals from entering.

The problem I have is when homosexual activists demand more than tolerance, they demand affirmation. For the activists simply living side by side in peace and harmony isn't enough. They demand that non-homosexuals explicitly endorse their lifestyle.

That's a non-starter with me. I don't care what kind of a lifestyle you have, whether you chose it or whether it is an expression of genes that forces you into it. It's your lifestyle and you're welcome to it, and I'm not limiting that to just the homosexual lifestyle. As long as that lifestyle doesn't impact me or mine, feel free. Just don't ask me to say that what you do is right.

Homosexual activists demand that crimes against homosexuals be punished more severely than crimes against non-homosexuals. Such un-American demands shouldn't deserve an answer.

If a crime is committed the criminal should be punished for the actions taken during that crime not for the thoughts in his or her mind. To do otherwise flies in the face of the Constitution of the United States of America, the foundation of our government and our laws.

It is actions we forbid. We don't say you can't think you deserve the brand-new car your neighbor just bought, we simply forbid you to take it from him. We don't say you can't hate Microsoft, we simply forbid you from blowing up their headquarters.

Hate crimes are thought crimes and any time you can outlaw thoughts you oppose others can turn around and do the same to your thoughts.

To be honest unless something is pressed on me I don't think about homosexuals, their agendas or their opponents. It simply isn't important to me one way or the other, and as far as I'm concerned that's the way it should be.

Go, live and be well. Just don't tell me I have to agree with you, you will be sadly disappointed.