With the recent introduction of the Civil Marriage Protection Act, SB 241, the amount of homophobic protests is staggering.

Frankly, I find this lack of tolerance disturbing. People seem to have forgotten about the importance of the separation of church and state. These protests are led, it appears, by a majority of fundamentally religious people who believe that because something is in violation of their creed it is not allowed to exist.

These people need to realize that not everyone is a part of their religion, and they are not allowed to prevent others from being happy. They seem to think social instability will arise from the union of two people of the same sex. It may seem as though I am exaggerating, but those who protest the legalization of marriage between two people of the same sex claim that some sort of holy vengeance will fall upon us all if marriage between homosexuals is allowed.

In Canada, same-sex marriage was legalized in 2005. In the seven years since, there has been no societal collapse.

There is a great amount of fear revolving around the idea of same-sex marriage. Fear of the unknown, perhaps. Fear breeds hatred, which in turn only breeds more fear.

I beg of my fellow citizens to tolerate each other. Tolerate your fellow human, and respect one another’s way of life. The point needs to be made; there is absolutely nothing wrong with homosexuality. It is not a conscious decision or a purposefully spiteful act.

Angela Bartolomeo, Waldorf