I might be a little late on this topic, but I'd like to take the time to throw out my two cents on the whole gay marriage issue. It has been quite clear that all the loving, committed gay couples in the United States that wish to marry have been personally attacked by the Bush administration and anybody else that supports modifying the constitution to declare marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Whenever a group of people take something as personal as the person we fall in love with and make it a issue of politics, it is inevitable and only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose. Whenever we create more laws instead of more love, the walls between us humans get built up and we're left with a sense of 'us' and 'them.' Whenever we're bombarded with generalities that don't have any coherent definition like the buzz phrase 'traditional marriage', the uneducated begin thinking in those generalities and the willfully ignorant have more fuel for their fire.

It is my belief that there is only one true cure for homophobia, and that is to personally know and care about a close relative and/or friend who's gay. Unlike what we've seen on melodramatic, over the top made-for-tv movies and after school specials, when a parent is hit with news that their son is gay, the outcome is frequently positive.

Unfortunately, that point brings us to precisely what a constitutional amendment will eventually accomplish--drive gay people back into the closets, back into the cliched "gay" night life of sleazy bathhouses and bars so we can find another group of people to point the finger at and say 'at least I'm not like them.' Back to gays being doormats and pitying themselves instead of taking pride in who they are. If you want to get on your soap box about 'slippery slopes', changing the constitution will surely slide society down the path of more homophobia and more hatred/self-hatred.

Those who vote for a change in the constitution frequently state that they are simply trying to keep the basic institution of family. Well, if that's the case, I say we show them that the opposite is true. Only by understanding that a gay couple's love life and family life is just as valid as anybody else's can humanity as a whole begin to take its next step forward. We all need to understand that changing the constitution is just another 'thou shalt not' that strips us of our own free will. We all must stop becoming preoccupied with not doing wrong and instead try to do right.

© Sam Leonard
Life Channels Staff Writer
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