"We know the way. We need only the will."

"If we wish to inspire the people of the world whose freedom is in jeopardy, if we wish to restore hope to those who have already lost their civil liberties, if we wish to fulfill the promise that is ours, we must correct the remaining imperfections in our practice of democracy. We know the way. We need only the will."

— President Harry S Truman brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae at 332, Brown v. Board of Education. of Topeka, 347 U.S. (1954).

• When we allowed black and white children to be segregated, we, as a nation, were wrong and we corrected it.
• When we allowed Japanese Americans to be incarcerated, we, as a nation, were wrong and we corrected it.
• When interracial marriages were illegal, we, as a nation, were wrong and we corrected it.
• When we allowed discriminated against Americans with disabilities, we, as a nation, were wrong and we corrected it.
• When we allow discrimination in housing because someone is gay or lesbian, we, as a nation, are wrong and we need to correct it.

Today, we allow landlords in every West Virginia city, with the exception of Charleston, to deny housing to people simply because they are gay or lesbian. We, as a community, must correct this inequality, too.

This year, the West Virginia Legislature acknowledged a wrong in our state fair-housing law but failed to follow through on correcting it. The time has arrived for the Legislature to remedy this inequity and enact legislation that would prohibit discrimination in housing based on sexual orientation.

( The ideas expressed here were taken from a commentary published on Sunday, June 13, 2004, in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper. It was submitted by the following: Eric K. Yamamoto who was a professor of law at the University of Hawaii's William S. Richardson School of Law and board member of the Equal Justice Society. Shirley N. K. Garcia and Carrie Ann Shirota were staff attorneys with the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission. Kim Coco Iwamoto was an attorney and civil-rights activist. They submitted the article as individuals, not in any official capacity.)