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Intolerance hurts our region

To the editor:

I just came back from a work trip in Washington, D.C., and boy, did the Ohio Valley disappoint me when I came back.

It’s come to my attention that the Herald-Star published a column that expressed hostility, if not disdain, for an LGBT couple announcing an engagement. Words like “ungodly” came up a lot.

Well here’s a surprise: In the D.C. area, there’s an abundance of jobs. Why? Because they accept the LGBT community. Why? Because the LGBT community members are their co-workers. It sounds like a paradox, but there are more jobs available when more work places and neighborhoods accept LGBT people.

Why is that? Well when you accept communities that aren’t your own, your physical neighborhood grows. When it grows, more businesses spring to serve those neighborhoods. Which means more jobs.

Why is there no meaningful job growth in the Upper Ohio Valley? Well answer this: Would you want to live and work in neighborhoods where you could be lynched by religious fanatics because of who you love?

The Ohio Valley has a chance to grow in meaningful ways. You want more business? You want people to move in, rather than move out in droves? Start practicing acceptance.

Intolerance, especially religious intolerance, is partially why the population in the Ohio Valley shrank during the last two decades. Young people don’t want to live where they are not accepted. The other part is that no new businesses are moving in. And why would new businesses move to a place with such blatant intolerance?

It’s good business, as well as good ethics, to accept those different from you, including the LGBT community. Plus, it makes you look like a better Christian if you practice what Jesus said in the first place.

Kelci Crawford

St. Clairsville

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