I am writing in regard to a comment that Dr. Date made in the Feb. 18 issue of the Minnesota Daily about same-sex marriage.

 I would first like to state that this is not a letter about whether same-sex marriage is right or wrong. When giving advice to a girl asking about her boyfriend opposing same-sex marriage, Dr. Date stated, “The Doc believes that people who don’t want gays to marry hate gays. That’s a fact of life, a fact of nature.”

That is a pretty bold and flat-out wrong assumption. Unfortunately, there are people who actually do hate gay people but simply because someone opposes same-sex marriage does not make them a bigot. It is not a fact of life or nature that those in opposition of same-sex marriage hate gay people, and this stereotype is nothing more than an ignorant idea.

There are many reasons as to why someone might be opposed to same-sex marriage just as there are many reasons why someone supports it.

Regardless of what your own beliefs are, each side deserves respect. By disregarding those in opposition as simply being bigots who hate gay people, the good doctor has displayed his or her own intolerance and ignorance of the sanctity of marriage movement. Stereotyping the opposition as such makes Dr. Date no better than someone who actually does hate gay people.

I would encourage readers to find out the reasons for supporting same-sex marriage as well as opposing it because an uninformed decision is a foolish one.