PRISONER EXPRESS

Some elements lean toward the right and others to the left. Looking toward the center at the Founding Documents is the only way to find our path to the best course. When you remove political rhetoric and view them in their historic context they are quite extraordinary.

If you've never read the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, you should be ashamed. To give equal rights to common land owners was a radical move in the 1700s. Though this freedom was first bestowed upon mostly white heterosexual males there was nothing in these documents to restrict this freedom to them only.

The steel core that gives strength to the whole is the Bill of Rights. These first 10 amendments set a precedent that the U.S. Constitution was a malleable document subject to modifications that would allow it to evolve as America grew and its people diversified.

Every right given in the Bill of Rights was a seed planted in fertile American soil and meant to spread. They did. With each new group brought under the protective umbrella America became stronger, though never has any group's admission been easy. There are always some that don't want to share and feel their personal freedoms infringed on when a new group begins their struggle. They don't want to make a little room for the newcomers. But you'd expect minorities and women, not so long ago they were newcomers themselves, to be a bit more accepting and willing to move over.

Gays and lesbians strive for legal acceptance and a place in society outside the closet in the light. It's time. They hurt no one with their lifestyles. Until recently their private lives were illegal in many states and some think they still should be. They have been beaten and lynched and burned for who they are and lived in fear of discovery and reprisals for urges they could no more change than another person might change their skin color or gender. For years their sexuality was listed as a mental illness and was thought a disease to be treated. Some would still have us believe it the only choice. Why would anyone choose a life fraught with such challenges?

The day will come when a Gay Rights amendment is ratified. On that day closets will only be for clothes to hang in. Gays and lesbians will take their proper place in society as equals. Fear-mongers are sure to see they are not welcomed with open arms, the same way they did when blacks and women got the vote that made them full citizens.

It's time to be informed. All Americans are meant to be equal. We must never let any group be marginalized and denied their full rights of citizenship due to an irrelevant factor. Marriage became a protected right when government took over the province of licensing the act and made multiple wives illegal for Mormons and everyone else. Multiple wives should be illegal when women don't have the equal right to multiple husbands or a choice in the women chosen to join the union they are a part of. But multiple partners, of whatever sex consenting adults decide on, should not. Adults have a right to choose and determine these issues for themselves. Legislation is only needed to stop discrimination and coercion, not to determine the sexual configuration of these unions.

The melting pot is a crucible capable of taking any ingredient, whether race, religion, or sexual orientation, and strengthening the mettle of the whole. All it takes is the acceptance of "We the people..." to make it so.

There is no need to argue about whether sexual orientation is a matter of choice or not. The First Amendment protects every American's right to choose when it protects our Freedom of Religion, which is surely a matter of choice. There's no reason why a new amendment shouldn't protect every American's right to sexual choice and variety in marriage unions. It'll make our country stronger and much more interesting.