There's nothing wrong with Adam & Steve

Although it's pretty obvious this issue doesn't affect me in the most direct & personal way, the legalization of gay marriage is one very near & dear to my heart. Jakob and I both have quite a few friends who are LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer -or Questioning). I've seen real relationships between same sex partners, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that their love is as real as mine is for Jakob. So why do I get to marry the person I love when they're not allowed to do the same?

A very good friend of mine who lives in Florida recently told me about an amendment on the ballot November 4th called amendment 2. Basically the passing of this amendment would forever close the door to the legalization of gay marriage in that state. It makes me feel kinda dumb to admit this, but I just don't get it. I don't get why some people are so adamant about not allowing LGBTQ people to marry.

If you really want to protect the "sanctity of marriage", make divorce illegal. In my eyes, divorce is much more an affront to its sanctity than allowing Barry* & Bill* to tie the knot.

We don't choose who we fall in love with. . . if we did, you'd never hear about the high society heiress engaged to the plumber's assistant or a powerful attorney falling for the waitress at the local diner. I think we can all agree on this - so it's not that big a leap in reasoning to say my friend Tess* didn't choose to fall in love with Layla* - she just did. And there's nothing wrong with that. They make each other happy - in their hearts, they are married and they plan to have children at some point in the future. I've seen them together many times, and every single time, I see how much they love one another and how happy they are. I wish I knew more heterosexual couples who were that in love - I think the world would be a happier place.

I read the website of a group supporting the passage of Amendment 2, and while it made me angry, it also made me sad. It made me sad because I think it must be very dark inside such a closed mind. On their FAQ page, I read this:

Are you saying gays cannot be good parents?

Two men might each be a good father, but neither can be a mother. The ideal for children is the love and nurturing of both a mom and a dad. No same-sex couple can provide that. So the question becomes, which parent is not important for a child, a mom or a dad?

It is obvious to me that the person who wrote this does not have any personal experience with gay parents. And is there really a difference between a mother's love and a father's love for their child? Sometimes the father is the disciplinarian, sometimes it's the mother. Sometimes mom is the softie, sometimes it's dad. A good parent loves their children - period. Genitalia doesn't affect this fact.

According to this line of reasoning, a child who has a parent who dies cannot and will not receive the love and nurturing he/she needs & deserves. Perhaps we should pass a law requiring the widowed parent to remarry within a few months or assign the family a "replacement" parent of the appropriate (ie opposite) sex.

Someone from the audience says, "Oh, come on...... that's crazy!"

Yeah, it is crazy. What an insane idea. . . . and that's why, if you live in Florida, I encourage you to vote NO on Amendment 2

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of those I love*