Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 1, 1 January 2009 — Gay equality [ARTICLE]

Gay equality

As citizens of the United States of America, we all have freedom and the right to express ourselves. On record, according to the FBI's statistics, in 2007 more than 1,000 hate-crime offenses were conunitted based just upon someone's sexual orientation. That's a huge number, and the number of hate crimes will only

continue to rise if we do not inunediately take action. Statistically speaking, many hate crimes based on someone's sexual orientation go unreported to their loeal poliee or sheriffs department. Sadly, GLBTQA (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Allied) youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers! Rights should not be taken away from any individual because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. We are all human, and citizens, and when will equal mean equal? Coleh Laieski Surprise, kiiona