I Was Published in the Knoxville News Sentinel!

I wrote a Letter to the Editor to my local newspaper, and here's what got published. I cant wait for the backlash!



America is moving forward into the future. It is time for Tennessee to catch on to the trend and become more progressive.

In just the past few months, six states have legalized gay marriage — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire — with even more states on their way to legalizing it also.

Briefly, California allowed gay marriage until crafty conservatives maneuvered their way through the voting systems to abolish it.

Tennessee should not sit by and watch this movement pass us by. We should be leading down here in the South, especially if nobody else will.

California had the right idea before the popularity of the November elections allowed right-wing sneaks to toss in Proposition 8. Tennessee should follow in its footsteps.

Throughout American history, the North has led the way for human rights. All the way back to the Civil War, it was the North fighting for the freedom of slaves, and today history is repeating itself. The North is establishing itself as the progressive part of America by becoming more accepting faster than we are.

Currently, the U.S. government has decided that each individual state should legalize gay marriage. Even though this fundamentally goes against every other historical human-rights movement, in which the government settled the battles for the better, this is Tennessee’s chance to show our neighbors right from wrong.

Push for the legalization of a basic human right so many people already enjoy and allow gay marriage in Tennessee. All men are created equal and deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Mitch Harp

Knoxville