Reply #5: I am a Dean first, Kerry second

[WyLoochka]

supporter. And I'll bash Kerry all I want on this. In the same old overly cautious way he has learned from being in DC for decades, he has succeeded only in mucking up the waters for himself and damaging the chances of a segment of the population, that has been discriminated against for 229 years, to finally fully realize what life is like living with the full set of civil rights that are inalienable to humankind.

For the life of me, I cannot fathom how the man could entertain, even for an instant, the thought of supporting an amendment to ban gay marriage. It's up to the various churches to decide for themselves whether or not they want to continue banning gay marriages. The government cannot legislate one way or the other on a sacrament of the church.

But while the churches can go their own ways on marriage, they cannot any longer be allowed to perpetuate, through force of any law, the discrimination against gays and lesbians which precludes them from exercising their civil right of entering into life partnerships of their choosing, that are duly recognized by the government as having all the rights and responsibilities of heterosexuals who enter into life partnerships of their choosing.

It isn't about a word - it's about civil rights and equal treatment under the law.