Advice columnist Dear Abby had a few choice words this week for a letter writer who expressed discomfort interacting with gay couples in their new neighborhood.
“My husband and I relocated to Florida a little over a year ago and were quickly welcomed into our new neighbors’ social whirl,” a submission, signed “Unhappy in Tampa,” read. “Two couples in the neighborhood are gay — one male, one female. While they are nice enough, my husband and I did not include them when it was our turn to host because we do not approve of their lifestyle choices. Since then, we have been excluded from neighborhood gatherings, and someone even suggested that we are bigots!”
The letter added that the couple didn’t feel they should compromise their values to be initiated into the social circles of the neighborhood.
Abby didn’t mince words in her response. “Gay people don’t choose to be gay; they are born that way,” she wrote. She pushed the writer to rise above her prejudice and grow thanks to her new surroundings. “Please don’t blow it,” she concluded.
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