FESTUS, Mo. (UPI) -- A group that opposes gay-rights laws will
announce a petition drive aimed at amending the Missouri constitution to
keep state and local governments from prohibiting discrimination based
on sexual preference.
        Kerry Messer, a conservative lobbyist and director of the newly
formed Amendment Coalition, says his group will open the campaign Monday
in Jefferson City.
        Messer says the coalition does not want to deny equal rights to
homosexuals.
        But he contends that gay-rights laws passed recently in his hometown
of Festus and other Missouri communities go too far by unintentionally
giving special rights to people of any sexual orientation, including
pedophiles and prostitutes.
        ``We're saying that you have to accept another human being, but you
shouldn't have to accept another person's behavior,'' Messer said.
        Messer declined to say how many people belong to the coalition. He
said the group is closely tied to the conservative Missouri Family
Network.
        The secretary of state and attorney general must approve the
petition's wording before coalition members can hit the streets. Messer
expects to begin collecting the needed 200,000 signatures this summer.
        The petition would call for a voter referendum to decide ``whether or
not people of various sexual orientations should have special rights
because of their sexual behavior,'' Messer said. Passage of the
referendum would amend the constitution.