An open letter to the Gov. - By Matty Jacobson

Matty Jacobson is responsible for
The Skewed Review and all its
content. He also hopes this trend
of depressing articles can come to
an end and he can get back to doing
what he does best: being sometimes
hilarious but mostly annoying.

The following is a letter I wrote to Utah's Gov. Gary Herbert after both the House and the Senate passed HB 363, which would ban any education of homosexuality in Utah classrooms. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to address this ridiculous issue. Are you sick of me writing about this horse honky? Why don't you take a second, click this link, and email the Governor as well? It would mean a lot to me, but mostly it will mean a lot to the potentially hundreds of teens who will forego any thoughts of suicide because their schools make them feel like freaks of nature.

Dear Mr. Governor, 

  

I cannot even imaging the amount of work you have to do to keep our state running. I commend you on your efforts to not only run our state efficiently, but to also make vast improvements along the way. I am a communication major at Dixie State College, and schoolwork alone keeps me extremely busy, but I am sure my schedule would be a welcome relief to yours. 

So I hope you have the time to take my concern into consideration. Recently, HB 363 passed the Utah House and Senate with little debate, and this is frightening me. 

I've read the bill and have been tracking it because of one aspect I fear could lead to a jump in suicide rates among junior high and high school students: The bill prohibits discussion of homosexuality. 

I myself have attempted suicide on four separate occasions because I am a gay Utahn, and a gay Utahn can sometimes be the most damning thing a person can be. I foresee a classroom where a gay or lesbian teenager is made to feel less-than because schools only advocate sex within the confines of marriage in a state where same-sex marriage is illegal. 

I fully support abstinence-only until a teenager is fully educated and has committed to a long-term, monogamous relationship. However, I do not support the senseless suicides that so many teenagers feel they must resort to because our state culture already makes them feel as though they are sinners. 

Utah ranks No. 1 on the list of the most depressed states and is in the top ten of states where people commit suicide the most. I am sure there are many factors, but I believe if you sign HB 363 into law, then it will only add to a statistical list we don't want to be on.

Please sir--as a voter, as a gay citizen, as an LDS member who wanted so badly to have a place to go to worship, but was outcast by my own church, and as a potential parent--do not sign HB 363 into law. If you do feel abstinence-only in the classroom is the only way for Utah students to learn, then please ask our Representatives and Senators to redraft the bill to exclude the language that would make so many gay teens feel as though they truly are negative anomalies, and therefore useless in a society as rich with culture, heritage and love as ours.

Thank you for your consideration. I am praying that children never feel the need to take their own lives. I am hoping you can help save the children of Utah, as you've done with so many other issues our state has faced. 

Sincerely, Matthew James Jacobson

Dixie Sun Opinion Editor