Sure, I'm outraged because of the (up-coming) anti-gay legislation.
But we should not compare ourselves with an other category as to
picture ourselves as 'better' (more entitled to be protected against
discrimination) than that particular category, in this case smokers.
Besides, the KY legislature doesnot only mention smokers and
nonsmokers,
but also other 'explicitly protected' categories:
 /quote: race, color,religion, national origin, sex, age forty (40) and
over, because the person is a qualified individual with a disability,
or because the individual is a smoker or nonsmoker. end quote.
Lets stand up for gay-rights without looking down upon others.
regards,
Ines Orobio de Castro


On 24 Jan 04, at 16:15, Joan Callahan wrote:

>
> As the KY legislature considers supporting state and US constitutional
> bans on gay marriage, as well as various other anti-gay legislation,
> please be aware that smokers are an explicitly protected category in
> this state.  See here if you are skeptical about this
> <http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/krs/344-00/040.PDF>http://www.lrc.state.ky
> .us/krs/344-00/040.<http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/krs/344-00/040.PDF>PDF
> . What's wrong with this picture???
>
> If you are not outraged, you should be.
>
> Kentucky laws are not idiosyncratic.  They express, at worst, what
> people in the US believe; they express, at best, what people in the US
> are willing to tolerate.
>
> Many of us want to know when the justice-minded heterosexuals of this
> country will start to stand up for us as the justice-minded white
> people of this country have stood up for people of color.
>
> We just do not understand how you can continue to allow such
> discrimination; how you can sit idle as state after state enact laws
> during their current legislative sessions that will ensure that our
> families will NEVER be equal in this country.
>
> We are your friends, your neighbors, your teachers, your bosses, your
> co-workers, your bothers, your sisters, your parents, your
> grandparents, your nieces, your nephews, your artists, your plumbers,
> your carpenters -- your children and your unborn children.
>
> We have always been with you and we will always be with you.
>
> We need you, our friends, our families, our colleagues, our employers,
> our employees, our neighbors to stand up for us NOW as we face a
> terrible wave of legislative discrimination across the country, rising
> from the federal government thereby giving state confidence that they
> can enact laws to discriminate as fully as they choose against us.
>
> Stop the hate.  Please stand up for us.
>
>
>
>