SOUNDBITES — “You can live with whoever you want, but don’t use the state government to force acceptance. … [Legislators] should not use the machinery of government to force people to accept lifestyles that they do not believe in. … If I must blindly accept everyone’s lifestyle to be nondiscriminatory, then that is a price that I’m not willing to pay.” —Lovely person and Ohio State Rep. Jeff Wagner, on the just-passed anti-discrimination law. Yes, Mr. Wagner opposed it.
There may be some of us who care that others “accept” us, I personally don’t give a crap. But I do demand to be treated equally under the law, and afforded equal protection by the government that takes my tax money. And that equal protection means encouraging those who don’t accept me to still treat me with the dignity that all citizens deserve.