Scott Harris: Discrimination against LGBT world assaults us all
• September 12, 2008 • From Lansing State Journal
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080912/OPINION02/809120316/1087/OPINION02 (http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080912/OPINION02/809120316/1087/OPINION02)
Back in mid-July, my family and I were asked to serve as the Lansing area's host family for the 2008 "Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights," a national event that will provide straight Americans with opportunities to do justice and motivate new allies to stand up for equal rights. The week's events begin Sept. 14 and run through Sept. 20.
I believe that our family was asked to participate for two reasons. First, we wholeheartedly believe that it is our birthright as Americans to live lives unencumbered by institutional or social discrimination. Second, we believe that as Americans, it is our moral obligation to work diligently to protect and preserve the rights of our fellow country-folk.
What gets lost in the arguments against preserving the civil rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Americans is the simple fact that we're talking about our friends, families, coworkers and neighbors. Not only is discrimination against LGBT Americans arbitrary, it's also dangerous. Martin Luther King Jr., said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."