Letter: Gays entitled to same rights under the law

Friday, Aug. 15, 2003 | 4:33 a.m.

I am a 53-year-old community-minded citizen and longtime resident of the Las Vegas area. One of the things I like about Las Vegas is its diversity and relative openness compared to most other cities. Las Vegas embodies principles of freedom that, though fully American, are largely subdued and repressed in the rest of the country. Las Vegas is "cutting-edge" in American society for the expansion of human freedom.

Same-sex marriage is a cutting-edge issue for the expansion of the American ideal of a free, pluralistic society. Advances along these lines -- abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, workers' rights, etc. -- were thought to be wrong and "unnatural" before they were won for the betterment of our nation. A significant homosexual minority has always been a part of human society. Taken as a whole, homosexuality is obviously a natural part of the human order, or else it wouldn't exist. Homosexuals are entitled to the same respect under the law as any other natural group or way of life.

CHARLES KIPP