I want to congratulate the Maine legislators who finally passed legislation assuring basic civil rights for Maine people regardless of gender orientation.

I owned a four-unit rental property in Lewiston for more than 20 years. A few of my tenants over the years were gay and lesbian. One lesbian couple confided after they had been in my building for a while that they had moved from their previous apartment because other tenants had harassed them. These were ordinary people. Whom they loved was their business, how they treated my property was mine. They treated my property well and were good neighbors. It was a win-win-win situation, because it was based on respect and fairness.

I believe that fairness is one of the most basic values shared by Mainers of every stripe. We are served, entertained, healed, educated, ministered to and comforted by gay and lesbian people every day, whether we know it or not. They defend our country, take care of our animals, prepare our taxes, fill our apartments and fix them, and generally fill every kind of community role that the rest of us do. They are no better, no worse, and no more or less deserving of basic rights.

This legislation only extends basic fairness to all. I wish that the people who now say they will mount yet another public referendum campaign to deny these rights would put their energy into something more productive. There is so much good yet to be done.

Penny Hilton, New Gloucester

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