I am writing you in regards to House Bill 135 “Government Nondiscrimination Act” that you have proposed. First off, please allow me to introduce myself. I too am a registered Republican and have been a proud supporter of the Republican Party. I am also one of the many gay Republicans in Wyoming. To be honest, I am so very disheartened and disappointed that a fellow Republican would introduce a bill such as HB 135.
The Republican Party has been the party of freedom,
prosperity, vision, strength and the Party of the future. Bills such as the one
you are proposing contradict what the Republican Party is truly about. HB 135
will take away the freedom that the LGBTQ community need to live a successful
life – to grow and to prosper in a wonderful state such as Wyoming.
Did you know that there are over 12,000 Wyoming
residents that belong to the LGBT community? And 2.9% of Wyoming’s population
is that of LGBT adults? This may not seem like a large number to you, but what
would you think if all 12,000+ of us moved out of Wyoming? How big of a
financial dent would that make? Imagine all the LGBT tourists and our friends
that Wyoming brings in every year, especially to visit the National Parks? As a
state, I would imagine that we would like to bring in more businesses, more
people to live and grow in Wyoming – but this bill will prevent that from
happening. That is a large chunk of money that will not be made – there are
many businesses that will lose employment because of a horrid bill such as HB
135.
Furthermore, your proposed bill will make all efforts
put forth to protect the LGBT community useless, especially on the local levels.
How can a population live in the Equality state when no one has equal rights?
As part of the Republican Party, I’ve always believed that less government is
best for the people – this bill is the complete opposite. Your bill will allow
anyone to refuse service to anyone due to their religious beliefs and yet no
one will be able to do anything about it because the government can now discriminate
as well.
The ability for a doctor to be able to refuse service
to children of LGBT families and keep their license is also so very harsh. I
imagine that your family has good health care with doctors you prefer – why
can’t my family have this right?
If I may, please let me ask you a question. If you or
anyone in your family had a child that belonged to the LGBT community, would
you want the best for them – or would you want them to fight for their life in
a country of inequality? I would hope
you would want the best for them, but for now it is apparent that you fight for
the complete opposite.
Representative Steinmetz, as a fellow Republican and a
proud Wyomingite, I ask you to reconsider your proposition – and know that this
doesn’t affect just those of strong religious values, but will affect everyone
in Wyoming. As a gay Republican with strong Christian values and a testimony of
my saviour, my hope is that you won’t seek to judge the LGBT community, but
help us live and grow together in a beautiful Wyoming we can all be proud of.
I would love to discuss this further with you, by
phone, email or in person. I believe if you knew the LGBT community of Wyoming
you would be eager to fight for our rights.
Respectfully.
