I was very disturbed and disappointed to read the recent commentary written by Jeff E. Jared, especially given that he stated that he originally wrote a column in support of legalizing gay marriage.

Nobody is forcing an association with anybody, and the idea that this commentary even got printed is appalling to me, and I am sure that it is to many other people as well.

If I were to run a small business, or rent my basement or need a nanny I would not be allowed to discriminate against a Christian person. I also wouldn’t want to discriminate against that person if they were the right person to patronize my business, be my tenant or look after my child. Closing off a whole portion of society is not only narrow-minded, but it is also abominable to imagine that it is even a consideration in this day and age, in this country.

Also, if the entire commentary that was printed about the “forced association” between Christians and gay people had the word “gay” replaced with any of a range of other words, would it be printed in any newspaper? Try rewriting the commentary replacing the word gay with the word black, Hispanic, Jewish, Mexican, Muslim or the name of any other group and see if it is still something that you can feel good about printing.

This law does go into the private lives of people, it goes into the private lives of regular citizens of this state that just happen to be gay. It goes right into their lives and makes them a valid and equal member of society with equal recognition just like heterosexual people.

It allows their children to feel that their parents are equally valid and it lets them be able to say that their parents are married. It allows them to stand up in front of their friends, family, coworkers and each other and profess their love for each other. It does not go into the lives of anyone else and change them at all. When this law goes into place everyone will wake up the next morning and nothing will be different at all with the exception that one more discrimination will be removed from society.

Mr. Jared points out the protections that have been written into law to state that religious organizations will not be forced to carry out these marriages. I understand his concern about other organizations being potentially “forced” to serve someone that they are not comfortable with, but I don’t think that this is really going to be an issue.

LGBT people, in the main, want to do business with the people that they feel most comfortable with. I would also say that the majority of business people want to do business with people who are going to bring them money. I am sure that they are going to welcome our dollars with open coffers – and if not then we are not going to support their business. There are going to be plenty of other Christian businesses out there that will welcome our dollar.

Also, the idea of a private family inviting only a certain group of people to a party has nothing to do with laws – it is about people inviting their friends to come to their house. If they only have a certain type of people as their friends then that is all that they will invite.

I have a wide range of different friends and they are all equally welcome in my home. I know straight people and gay people, religious people and non-religious people, black, white, Asian and all other types of people. It makes for a much more interesting life than just sticking with the same groups that you belong to – I enjoy the diversity that my life contains.

Please, consider the deeper ramifications of what you print in this newspaper in the future. I am all for allowing people to have freedom of speech, but this type of article is hateful and nothing else.

Shaun Kelly, Kirkland