For weeks now, articles posed against the addition of Proposition 2 to the Texas constitution have been published in newspapers across the state, including the Skiff.Every one of the articles published in the TCU newspaper have taken a “No Nonsense in November” stance. However, since the proposition ended up being adopted by three fourths of the state’s voters, I figured it was high time someone else stepped out of the shadows and gave a voice to the other side.

By that, I don’t mean liberals versus conservatives, mainly because I’m not either one. I’m a moderate who voted for Ralph Nader in 2004 so that – no matter which candidate won – no one could blame me.

On the issue of gay marriage, many have written in and voiced the opinion of “to each his own.” OK. Let’s play along with this idea.

Scenario: My best friend starts to “fall in love” with or even marry a habitual liar, a thief, an adulterer or just a plain raging lunatic. Should I not step in and, out of love, tell her what she is doing is probably not right and definitely not in her best interest? Should I just let her live in the happiness of the moment, when I know pretty soon she’ll be wallowing in grief, heartache and more?

Sure, by way of the United States Constitution, we all have the right to do basically whatever pleases us, but, in this situation, I refuse to just stand by and watch while my friend makes a bad decision.

I can’t just throw a person I love to the wolves like that, but after reading the articles that have been printed almost daily in the Skiff, this is apparently the conclusion the authors have come to about what we, as a society, should do.

Apparently, by their standards, I am discriminating against this hypothetical guy. Even if I were, would you blame me? Using the reasoning in recent articles, the authors have even gone to the lengths of saying that I hate him. Did I ever say that I hated the guy? Sure I will tell you that I don’t approve of or like his ways, but that’s certainly not going to hinder me from loving him, simply because that’s what I was taught to do by the example of Jesus.

One of my best friends is gay. I’ve never felt unconditional love for anyone else like I have for him. I could never hate him simply because he is gay. Because of this real-life situation of mine, I have a perspective of homosexuals that many people will never grasp, simply because they’ve lived in a conservative, purely heterosexual society all their lives and are too scared to step out. I’ll agree with a majority of liberals on that one.

I will be honest and say that used to be me, but man, have I changed; and for the better. Yes, many of my conservative views were strong, yet were not based on any real truth or proof; however, I’m in college now. I have been for three years, and, like many other people on college campuses around the world, I had to make my political opinions and beliefs my parents’ no more.

My opinions are now my own by education and experience, and yet, forgetting religion and putting this so-called “fear” aside, I still believe that marriage or even cohabitation of homosexuals simply isn’t good. To put it plainly, I have yet to personally see anything positive come of those whom I know and care about becoming or deciding that they are gay. In each case it has ended up hurting people, including themselves.

My best friend is not happy. He had his problems before he decided he was gay a year ago, but it was nothing compared to his current situation. His world has turned upside down, and you can’t tell me that it is because of discrimination, because he is in a city that accepts – even encourages – his lifestyle 100 percent.

Forget society, forget “this is evil” and “that is evil.” From personal experience and from watching many of those around me live their live, I’ve discovered that being homosexual isn’t the way to go. That is, not unless we want to stand on the sidelines while those we care about add more pain to this already painful and difficult thing called life.

So, until someone shows me the good that can come from any of this, I’ll be standing my ground.

And for goodness sake, I wish certain people would stop saying that it’s hate. I refuse to be belittled anymore from people assuming that I am acting on emotions, especially on an abominable and dangerous one such as hate.

Rachel Skinner is a junior radio-TV-film major from Abilene.