I am writing in reply to Rebecca Allison's March 29 letter, "U.N. resolution off base." In that letter, Allison deplores the granting, by the United Nations, of "human rights to homosexuals across the world."

The U.N. declaration on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights would, for the first time, condemn "discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity."

Why would the U.N. get involved in LGBT rights? It is estimated that 5 percent to 10 percent of people everywhere are gay, which is a sizable minority.

In many countries, notably in the Middle East and Africa, people are executed for suspicion of homosexuality. The right to life is one of the human rights with which the U.N. is concerned. Should gay people have that right?

What if your religious texts seemingly declared that gay people are an abomination and should be put to death, as some people argue the Bible says? What then?

Perhaps it would be going too far to kill them; let them live, you might say.

What about the right to employment, lodging (like renting an apartment), and public accommodations (like being served in a restaurant, for example)? In Butler and most of rural Pennsylvania, it is legal to deny those rights to gay people.

At this time, Pennsylvania is debating whether to include or exclude gay people under the protections of its already existing anti-discrimination laws.

Is civil marriage a civil right? Generally it is, and the government doesn't normally question the participants' religious views before granting a license.

A church can certainly deny its blessings to anybody it wants, but should the government deny gay people the right to enter into the legal contract that civil marriage is?

Allison writes that allowing same-sex marriage would "further erode the sanctity of the family and the moral fabric of our society."

I have the privilege of knowing many gay couples and families. They love their families dearly, they care for them with great respect, and they have high moral values.

Family is as important to them as it is to the rest of us.

Civil marriage is a collection of some 1,040 rights and responsibilities. Which of those rights and responsibilities should be denied? Who is to decide? Is discrimination against a minority OK if certain religious people demand it?

Article 1 of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

That is what the U.N. resolution would extend to gay people, if it passes. Fortunately, there is widespread support for it.

Maybe God is looking out for His gay children.