I have read letters and articles in the Sun Journal regarding state representatives ignoring the will of the people and a call for a referendum on same-sex marriage.

Those dissenters should know that it was not a popular opinion to end slavery. Many of those legislators who supported Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation were not re-elected.

Other milestones in the nation’s history were treated similarly.

This country’s founding fathers, especially James Madison, recognized the need for a separation of powers to limit the “tyranny of the majority.” Maine’s legislators have acted for a minority — a brave feat and a noble one.

Those religious leaders calling for a referendum should remember that it was to escape intolerance that our ancestors came to this country; an intolerance they now practice.

A homosexual couple should be able to enjoy the freedoms and benefits that a marriage confers. I do not feel that I, or anyone else, should be able to deny a privilege, right or benefit to a group based upon their race, gender or sexual orientation.

If we are made in God’s image, then he has many faces.

Can we, as a state, look at those faces and say they are not deserving?

Robert Belanger, Mechanic Falls