The rebuttal of the voters pamphlet statement against Referendum 71 reads: “All families should be treated equally under the law. Committed couples who want to take care of each other should have the protection they need to keep their families safe.” Not true.

R- 71 reads: “This bill would expand the rights, responsibilities and obligations accorded state-registered same-sex and senior domestic partners ...”

What about unmarried heterosexual domestic couples (under 62) with children? Are they not a family? Is this not discrimination?

R-71 is not about equal rights for all. It’s about special rights for homosexual couples with a little nod to a few senior citizens. After all, we Americans do feel obligated to take care of our seniors, don’t we? Yet only 7 percent of those who would benefit from R-71 are seniors.

Unfortunately, passing a bill to give these “rights and obligations” to all families would bankrupt our already struggling economy. If you want the rights afforded to marriage, get married.

Until another bill comes along to benefit domestic senior partners, let’s stop discrimination against heterosexuals by rejecting R-71.