Gay Unions

I am in favor of gay unions, and not just because I do a lot of divorce work, and in a twist on the old Woody Allen joke, gay unions increase my employment opportunities.

I support gay unions because I don't think the government has the right to tell anyone whom to love.

I support gay unions because I think society is better off supporting stable, long-lasting relationships, whether homo- or hetero- sexual, and that we all should be looking askance at lifestyles which undermine that goal. Which is why I have little use for serial adulterers, the "flamboyant" gay lifestyle, or the Brittney Spears & Nicky Hiltons of the world who treat marriage as a punchline.

I support gay unions because I believe W either purposefully ducked "the question" during the debate, lied, or hasn't given it much sincere thought. "The question" being "do you believe homosexuality is a choice?" The President answered that he didn't know. Kerry didn't address it (though he went on to drag the Cheneys' daughter into his answer.)

Do you know any gay people? If you do, then you know they are born gay. As my very conservative, very old-fashioned Italian father said to me long before gay rights was an accepted movement: "I don't know why they call it gay-- most homosexuals seem so sad. And they have to born that way-- who would choose to make their lives so difficult?"

I support gay unions because I don't see how that hurts me, a middle-aged, suburban, 25 years-married heterosexual father of two. Will my neighbors pay their taxes, bring in their garbage pails, and keep their house neat? Then what the hell do I care what they do behind closed doors?

I can understand the opposition to marriage, which brings in all kinds of overlays of religion.

I can also understand people's reisitance to being dictated to by radical judges. This is a matter to be decided in the legislature, and at the ballot boxes.

But I can't understand denying the benefits of society to people because of whom they love. I think, over time, most Americans will see the justice in gay unions, as they did in the Civil Rights movement.

I think two things really hurt the gay cause:

1) Outlandish behavior, such as the Halloween Gay Parades, just reinforces every bad notion, and defeats all attempts to cast gay couples as "normal" Americans, save for their partner's gender; and

2) When we see a heterosexual couple, we see them as Dick and Lynn, individual adults who are a couple. We don't think of them as a couple engaging in sex. Think about it-- what if the first thing you thought of when you saw the Cheneys holding hands on a stage was their sexual activities? You'd gag. As you would with just about any couple, other than Jennifer Aniston & Brad Pitt. But when we see gay couples, we are immediately focused on their sexuality, like you would be drawn to the hair of someone wearing a giant orange Afro wig. And it freaks us out.

Gay unions are a fair treatment by the government of its citizens. Conservatives should support the government treating us all fairly, neither granting preferences nor denying benefits to people because of their grouping.