This is a response to a letter posted in the most recent edition of The Dakota Student, distributed Oct. 29. Ms. Susan Lund submitted a letter in response to the City of Grand Forks recently passing a law disallowing discrimination in regards to housing LGBTQA members.

While I respect Ms. Lund’s prime right to free speech, I feel I would be doing a disservice to both myself and others of the same belief if I didn’t address some key points outlined in her letter.

I would first and foremost like to record my appreciation that Ms. Lund acknowledges members of the LGBTQA community as “important and vital … in a community.” A common issue faced in all civil rights battles is getting opposing sides to recognize the values and emotions of other people. This, in essence, is humanism. I applaud her ability to see past her own personal values to acknowledge this particular group of people as important, regardless of their beliefs.

To address some of her statements within her letter, I would like to speak about her first point. Ms. Lund states that members of the LGBTQA community “have always had equal rights under the law.” While it may be true that segregation of these individuals was never a judicial issue, personal bias has, until now, not been addressed.

I also encourage Ms. Lund to understand that this law may not have ever been drafted had  individuals not been affected by it beforehand. To quote a certain colloquiallism, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Laws are not drafted, discussed or passed if there is no real value to the power that they could possibly, and may already possess.

To address Ms. Lund’s second point about flaunting sexual orientation, I suggest that she look towards casual, everyday conversation. If a female can calmly talk to a prospective landlord about a heterosexual relationship with her boyfriend, is it very hard to believe that the same can happen between two males? I would dare say that these two hypothetical males, or two females for that matter, may feel that they cannot speak freely regarding their significant others, fearing discrimination in common issues such as housing or base treatment of individuals.

In Ms. Lund’s third and final point, I see the real issue at hand — her religious basis of moral and ethical behavior. I understand how she may feel about this particular topic. As a fellow Christian, I was raised with the same core values and verses that meant to govern a good, well-lived, ethical life. However, I would also like to refer Ms. Lund to the source of this law — a democratic government based on the beliefs of all constituents of the state. According to the First Amendment of the Constitution governing our country, there is a marked separation of church and state. This Free Exercise Clause is one of many that allows our country to run smoothly, regardless of personal beliefs and perceived inability to coexist.

While I appreciate Ms. Lund’s values and resolve regarding the laws of this country, I would like to encourage her to recognize that it is not God who governs this country, but a collective of individual minds all fighting to allow their individual voices and beliefs be heard and valued. In addition, I would remind her that while the Constitution, Amendments to the Constitution and all other federal, state and district laws govern the free members of the United States, the Bible does not.

Ms. Lund suggests in her final statement that “[the passing of this law] is about getting society to agree that homosexuality is OK; and unfortunately, it is not.” Regardless of Ms. Lund’s personal beliefs on the sexual orientation of others, all this law is addressing is the basic civil rights that should be afforded to any individual, regardless of race, orientation, religion, or creed. This is the most basic form of ethics that any belief requires.

While it may not be required to believe as others believe, it is a true form of character and moral and ethical value treating others as you would like to be treated. I encourage all to remember this as we proceed forward.

Lexi Lucy

music education major