Sanity, please call your office.
Brian writes another article on the topic of gay marriage, and while I try not to stand on a box and point when he does, the rarity of people with a degree of sanity writing on the topic from his perspective makes for a hard habit to break.
So go read it.
Brian is completely, totally correct on what is perhaps the most significant issue-- the fact that, indeed, the vast majority of people who don't support gay marriage have real, legitimate issues with the concept that have nothing to do with disliking homosexuals.
Yeah, yeah, I know heterosexual marriage is a joke these days, what with our Britney Spearses and our trophy wives and our Janet Jackson boobs and everything. But believe it or not, most of this country still holds on to some very traditional values, and while hatred and bigotry are not among them just like the bumper stickers all say, Americans like the idea of the groom in the tux and the bride in the long white gown, where nobody in the congregation (yes, I said congregation) has to think about the two of them having sex in order to comprehend why they're standing in front of the altar. It's an understanding that's deeply ingrained into our culture-- and not just ours, all of Western society (and pretty much the rest of the world). This is not an accident. There isn't some huge global conspiracy that's held sway for the last twelve thousand years fooling humans in all cultures into thinking that men marry women, and that's only just now losing its grip. If there is one, it's called nature, and our imminent redefinition of one of humanity's oldest pillars of civilized social behavior is as much a denial of our natural understanding of how the world works as it is an expression of liberation and equality. Can we please acknowledge that opponents of gay marriage might, just might be motivated by something other than that ineffable Republican need to burn crosses on people's lawns?