Hey all,

Eric here. Here’s a letter I wrote to Bloomington, IL’s Pantagraph editor as an open letter to Senator Bill Brady, a leading GOP gubernatorial candidate, regarding his proposed policies for making gay marriage fundamentally illegal in the state of Illinois. By the way, out of respect to the newspaper, I opted to keep their outside link at the bottom--so to keep reading the entire letter, simply follow that link.

I encourage you to read more about Sen. Brady's policies on your own and to be encouraged by many of the intelligent and thoughtful responses generated by this letter, while also taking note of the lack of those qualities in some of the other responses. I wasn't able to include the picture in my original letter, but below is the image you may or may not be familiar with. Each time I see it, I feel sickened for Elizabeth Eckford and how much courage she must have had, as a high school student, to walk through those hostile crowds. We should be so blessed to have a tenth of her courage today...

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Story:

How will Brady be judged on gay rights?

An open letter to Sen. Bill Brady: Dear Sen. Bill Brady, I have recently seen again the classic picture of Little Rock, Ark. resident Elizabeth Eckford, stoically entering her newly desegregated high school, in spite of Hazel Massery, who was shouting rage-fully at Eckford.

When I look at this now, I am reminded of the current civil rights issue against which you take a strong stand, GLBT rights. By preventing people from pursuing loving, monogamous and legal marriages, do you see yourself in Hazel in this picture?

For more of this story, click on or type the URL below:

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/05/25/opinion/letters/doc48375c91e8b16098476347.txt