I was embarrassed to read Mr. Richards’ letter on April 17, titled “Gay agenda not a matter of human rights.”

In it, the correspondent is expressing his opinion that gay rights are not on par with other human rights.

 His arguments are not convincing. And it was bizarre that he did not present any arguments for the other side.

The fact that some other serious rights issues have been resolved — at least on paper — in the past, does not automatically imply that we as a society should sleep well and stop making progress in other rights issues. In fact, this strive makes our society better.

It enhances our humanity and the lives of others around us. On many occasions it gives hope to some of our fellow human beings by making them feel more wanted and comfortable in their own personal lives, without harming our own in the least.

From Richards’ point of view, gay people may not be disenfranchised.

What if, however, someone had denied him the right to marry on some grounds having to do with his personal qualities, preferences or characteristics? This, by his own argument, would not have disenfranchised anyone else other than himself, but I can imagine how and why he would have considered it unacceptable, would have complained and would have vigorously tried to change it.

The most unconvincing part of his argument was his statement that “homosexuality is a behavior rather than a status” — a behavior that, according to Richards’ standards, is deplorable.

 I am not a human scientist to convincingly argue, based on scientific evidence, for or against the point.

But it is a shame that Richards’ argument is based on tradition, prejudice and bias, rather than on sound science and — even more worrying — that it is made public in a newspaper instead of being kept private at a basement of an old-centuries church where it belongs.

The State Supreme Court of Iowa, with its decision, has once more enhanced the excellent reputation that our state has as a welcoming state, where tolerance, plurality and diversity flourish alongside equality, freedom and opportunity for all. Let us all be on guard and work hard to further this reputation and keep Iowa the best.

George Voutsadakis

Graduate student

Computer science