Will wonders ever cease? Let's hope not. Members of both parties in the West Virginia State Legislature moved toward eliminating all discrimination against the gay community. The state is one of 28 that still has laws on its book allowing gay people to be fired at work for no other reason than being gay Also, housing can be denied gay people at the whim of apartment owners or managers. (At Left: West Virginia State Capitol Building.)

The joint reaction of the legislators was participated by a homophobic bill introduced under the guise of religious freedom. You remember the same kind of bill passed in Indiana, and when big business went against it and threatened to move out of the state, we had the pleasure of seeing the Indiana governor, his mouth smeared with egg, back tracking and the law makers legally negating the bill just below the speed of light. As we learned during the 1960s Civil Right Movement, the bridge between black and white is always green, the color of money. Politicians may praise the "good book" in campaign speeches, but they pass laws according to the check book.

The introduction of a homophobic bill brought both Republicans and Democrats to a moment of honesty seldom seen in politics. Enlightenment came to the "Mountain State."

Said state Sen. Charles Trump [sic] the Republican chair of the state's Judiciary Committee: "The United States Constitution guarantees to its citizens equal protection under the law. Government should not be in the business of discriminating against one class or group of people."

May his tribe increase.