Gay Rights are Civil Rights

Bond’s support for gay rights is not new. In an Ebony Magazine article he authored in July of 2004, he answered his own question: Are Gay Rights Civil Rights?

”Of course they are.

“‘Civil rights’ are positive legal prerogatives – the right to equal treatment before the law. These are rights shared by all – there is no one in the United States who does not – or should not – share in these rights.”

”Gay and lesbian rights are not ‘special rights’ in any way. It isn’t ‘special’ to be free from discrimination – it is an ordinary, universal entitlement of citizenship. The right not to be discriminated against is a common-place claim we all expect to enjoy under our laws and our founding document, the Constitution. That many had to struggle to gain these rights makes them precious – it does not make them special and it does not reserve them only for me or restrict them from others.”