Reply #32: Here's my position:

[democratreformed]

I can't see how gay marriage affects me at all. I don't understand the argument that allowing gays to marry somehow makes my heterosexual marriage mean less. Marriages MEAN what the two parties involved make of them.

I can't understand how allowing gay couples to have the same legal rights (insurance, survivorship, etc) as heterosexual couples would have any effect on the average person (except those gay couples who would gain benefits).

I am sorry that so many people are close-minded. I understand the frustration you must feel. Our secretary had a gay sister-in-law who developed cancer at a very early age (30s). She died recently and I have often thought about how her partner must have felt - not being acknowled legally as part of her family. I have wondered if she was allowed to visit her in the hospital during the last critical moments. I have never asked about it. I don't know if or what kind of insurance she had during her last years when she was not able to work and not allowed to be on her partner's plan like a spouse.

Whether or not the timing is right, this is how I feel: there are so many things wrong in this country that one issue is just as vital as any other. I see no reason to keep it in the background. Our candidates will have to deal with many issues. This may as well be one of them, IMO.