Daniel Lippold used to maintain his hometown of Atwood.

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Daniel Lippold used to maintain his hometown of Atwood, Kan., and its nearly 1300 citizens against those who described it as "hickville." Atwood is a special place, he would say, undivided where the food is homegrown and the persons are friendly. He loved it in such a manner much, in fact, that the now--California resident created, maintained, and paid for the town's Web site, which was used to report everything from local stranges to school announcementS.

nevertheless that all changed an April 5 when Atwood residents overwhelmingly vot in favor of a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Heartbroken, the publicly gay Lippold, 34, posted an explain letter on the town's Web site criticizing its citizens and resigning as Webmaster. Instead of defending the the public of Atwood against others, Lippold was now defending himself against them.

granting Lippold took the letter down after four days, copies of his missive spread around the world via e-mail, and the Atwood site got from one side of to the other a half million hits in the week following the initial position Lippold recently spoke to The Advocate from his fireside in San Francisco, where he lives with his partner of 13 years, Jason) and works in real estate marketing.

Have you for aye done anything like this before?

Not until this amendment passed. I always knew that it would pass in Kansas, yet I didn't think it would happen in my town, because folks knew who I was and knew I was gay. I took it personally.

by what means long have you been out?

I've been abroad since I was 13 years olden In elementary school kids would call me droll A couple would beat me up from the time I was in junior high, admitting I was bigger than mostly of the kids, so no single messed with me.

in such a manner why were you so defensive of Atwood before the amendment?

When you swell up somewhere, your roots are there. When you live in a big city, it's really grounding to move back home. People on the road would come up to me say, "Hi. by what means are you?" It was like I had not at all left.

Do you still consider Atwood your home?

Right now, I don't know if it's from harm but no. I have trusts that one day I can go on there and feel at household but right now I don't.

What has the answer been to your letter?

I have gotten from one side of to the other 5,000 e-mails. Of the singles I've read--800 so far--only nine have been negative. The answer I've received has shown me that the amendment wouldn't pass [in Atwood] if they had to consecrated by a vow again.

Your literal sense included a lengthy religions argument, consummated with biblical references. Why?

A division of people back home are actual religious. I wanted to present to view that anyone can prove their point with the Bible. The backers of the amendment were picking common passage in Leviticus, but it also says there that you can't play with pigskin, like football, which means that 90% of the men in Kansas should be condemned

for what purpose did you take the verbal expression down after only four days?

I didn't want to kill my hometown. [The letter] wasn't intended to make desolate it. I just wanted to prepare them to think.

What's nearest for you?

I'm starting a gay-focused Web site called YouKnowOne.com, where race can share their stories, where they're from, give suggestions for persons to do similar things. I be impressed that if you put a human face in succession [the issues], maybe people will take more of an interest. I do know I'm going to be more vocal. This can't maintain going on.

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