In addition to the opportunity to vote for president, state senator and local politicians on Nov. 3, Colorado residents also were able to vote on an amendment to the state constitution which would deny equal treatment among the state’s residents.

Specifically, the amendment bars local governments from prohibiting discrimination in jobs and housing based on sexual orientation. It also takes away existing gay rights in three of the state’s biggest cities.

So basically, because your sexual preference is not the same as the majority of American citizens, you don’t deserve a job or a place to live.

That sounds fair.

Believe it or not, Colorado voters passed the amendment by a 53 to 47 percent margin.

It seems alarming that in 1992, after working for centuries to secure the right of equality and freedom of speech, that adult and supposedly rational-thinking human beings could revert to such an archaic level.

These days, people appear to be more socially conscious and concerned with the welfare of our nation and its citizens.

I guess looks really can be deceiving.

You only have to consider the outcome of the Colorado vote to see that what seems to be really is not the case.

Whether you agree or disagree with people having a same-sex sexual preference, however, really is not the issue of this particular matter. The passage of this amendment could be the beginning of something much bigger.

Sure, it starts out with a little gay-bashing. People simply sit around, yell at those they perceive to be homosexual and make ignorant and prejudiced comments to them.

But who cares? That really doesn’t have a direct effect on you—you are heterosexual.

So people continue having this kind of fun for a while, but soon it starts getting old. Bashing gays just isn’t enough anymore.

They start to think, “Why just bash the homosexuals? We’ve really got something going here, so let’s expand a little. We can make attacks on blacks, jews and women, too!”

Granted, this scenario is a bit overblown, but it might not be too unrealistic after an extended period of time.

Tension exists everywhere between every group of people and it hits us all close to home.

The prevalent issue at NIU is racial tension.

This is not a new problem, however, and although people make attempts to remedy the situation, it always seems to end up back at square one.

Fingers are pointed, names are called and attacks are made, and nothing ever is resolved.

People all think they are entitled to fair treatment, but when it comes down to the treatment of others, equality just doesn’t seem to be as important an issue anymore.

Unfortunately, people are so busy recognizing their own points of view that they close their minds to any ideas that might conflict with their own.

As a result, other points of view cannot be accepted and no progress can be made.

We’ve made a lot of progress since colonial times—we shouldn’t have to go back to that line of thinking.