http://www.atwoodkansas.com/An open letter to the Citizens of Atwood.
I sincerely apologize that I cannot represent Atwood anymore. I am completely disappointed and heartbroken (for lack of a better word) at the actions of my hometown, a community that always says how much it cares for others.
You know when I first created AtwoodKansas.com I did so because of my desire to do everything I could to save my hometown from dying like so many other Midwestern towns.
Even though when I grew up there, I was not treated very well, I still had a love for my hometown that only grew stronger as I grew up. Living in a metro area with 7 million people really makes you understand what the word "home" means.
I hear a lot of stereotypical things said about Kansas when people find out where I am from, and every time I stick up for my "home" because I knew that the people making those remarks didn't really know anything about Kansas. They had no idea that Kansas is not “so flat that when your dog runs away you can see him for 3 days”, they certainly did not know what it is like to experience sweet smell of alfalfa in the summer or what it’s like to run into the middle of a dust before it disappears. The majority think of Kansans as Redneck farmers who are racist, bigoted, un-educated, and "slow". I would tell them otherwise.
However, the Citizens of Atwood certainly lived up to a few of those stereotypes this past week! Way to go!
I've never kept it a secret that I'm gay, so it makes me wonder if Atwood would have accepted my gift that made Atwood the 8th city in Kansas to have a world class website and the 5th newspaper in the state to have a website, knowing that the person who made it was gay? Or would they just let the town wither and die to make spite themselves and feel holy?
<snip>
For those of you who think it is a choice, that would mean at one time you had considered becoming a homosexual. It would be nice to hear your story.
I know that Atwood Voters made their decision based on the information put in front of them by the sponsors and backers of the Amendment rather than research on their own. They took the word of people who dedicate 100% of time and resources to oppression of Gay people. Did you know that Sponsors & Backers of this Amendment spent more money on this campaign than the entire budget for 2 years of ALL the school districts that make up the NWKL. Imagine if they put that money to good use and gave it to education in the first place, we might not be in this mess today.
All of this is for what? To “Protect the Sanctity of Marriage”? Please explain how a gay person has affected your marriage, your ability to get married or your family? What can 2 gay people in love do to the Sanctity of Marriage that hasn’t already been done by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, the city of Las Vegas or shows like “Who Wants to marry a Millionaire", "the Bachelor", "the Bachelorette", "Will you marry my Daddy", or even the people of Rawlins County who have been married, gotten divorced, remarried, divorced and yet again remarried? The Sanctity of Marriage means that you marry someone, spend the rest of your life in a committed Union of two. It has nothing to do with sex or sexual orientation, it’s a lifelong commitment. Why should you care if 2 people next door or 50 miles away want to spend the rest of their lives together and get the same benefits you enjoy, it's not going to affect you in the least bit, unless you spy on them. If you don't like what's on Television, you change the channel, you don't get the Government to ban the show.
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He continues on his site; recommended reading (and it chokes me, but I have to thank www.andrewsullivan.com for the link)
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