Could someone please show me where the founders of this once great nation excluded gays and lesbians from the social experiment that is the United States of America? I have read the Declaration of Independence countless times and nowhere does it include the phrase "except fags and dykes." The U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address also fail to single out gay and lesbian Americans as second-class citizens.

Never written, never implied, it's just not there.

To quote Abraham Lincoln "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Notice how he didn't say straight men are created equal.

So how is it homophobic bigots are still allowed to actively oppress gays and lesbians under the guise of moral superiority, and get away with it? I'm just asking. Could some please explain why heterosexuals are so unwilling to share the gene pool? I get the religion part, that's just about insecurity, right?

Organized religion is about fear or fear mongering, depending what side of the bloody pulpit you're on. Pat Robertson preaches intolerance because it's profitable. People listen because they lack critical thinking skills. Afraid of the unknown and threatened by cultural diversity, the religious extremists have always existed, and will, as long as religion exists.

The founders of the United States knew this, and had the foresight to include precise languaging with the 1st Amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; guarantees the free exercise of religion, as will as prohibiting one religious sect from dictating the rights of Americans based on religious dogma.

With the crafting of the Constitution, the founders of the United States government intended to prevent religious persecution, while allowing citizens to worship, or not worship, as suited them. Quite clear in the sanctity of personal freedoms, Thomas Jefferson and the other signers of the U.S. Constitution never intended the United States of America to be a theocracy of mean spirited evangelicals.

As a Californian, and American by association, I grew up believing the Bill of Rights spoke to a higher ideal, prefacing a time when all people were valued equally, and not discriminated against because the color of their skin, their economic standing, religious beliefs, political thoughts, gender or the gender of their sexual partners.

Religion doesn't explain why people who consider themselves good Americans would fight so hard to deny equal representation under the law to their friends, neighbors and family members. Beyond any sense of irony, that George W. Bush could wage a war, in the name of freedom abroad, yet not defend the constitutional freedoms of his fellow Americans, is pathological.

The ninth amendment clearly states. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Any and all moves to deny homosexuals the same rights allowed heterosexuals is unconstitutional, undermining the intent of the constitution, and its power to protect all citizens.

John Boehner the Republican majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives specializes in legislative gay bashing. Boehner, the sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, seeks a constitutional ban on same sex marriage, is openly hostile to gay Americans, and constantly advocates for discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Is the heterosexual paradigm so fragile that it can't hold up in the presence of diversity? Are we witnessing the rise of the American Taliban? Why are Christians so un-Christ like?

I think it time gays and lesbians made a stand for life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Namely our own.