A Message to our Gay Friends

Editorial
A Message to our Gay Friends

Signatures Have Been Certified; A Time for Healing

February 2002

The time limit for challenging the validity of any of the 75,583 signatures to the Protection of Marriage amendment expired last month.

As a result, the Secretary of State is now reporting to the various offices that the petition has more than the required number of certified signatures.

We want to assure our gay friends that this does not mean the beginning of “gay bashing.” We know no responsible person anywhere in the state who desires that. Most of you also know that. But in case there are some who don’t, we wish to make it clear.

On the other hand, over the past several months, we have reported the activities of some extreme political activists who were literally in the faces of citizens all over the state, trying to stop them from signing the petitions. We hope that this ends that type of confrontation and that some of you more moderate persons will take charge.

We have not changed our belief that your life style is not healthy for you personally. Some of you will disagree but most won’t quarrel strenuously with that.

What the vast majority of our citizens desire is that we work once again to encourage conditions wherein every child has a father and a mother. Many of our institutions have strayed far from that goal. We know it is a goal that will never be possible in every instance, but, nonetheless, it should be our objective.

We continue to believe that many groups which want to diminish or destroy the institution of marriage have used you for their own purposes. That is not fair to anyone, especially to you.

We will continue to challenge anyone who tries to destroy the family as our society has always cherished it. We hope that many of you will continue to help us in that endeavor.