To the editor:

To those Proposition 8 proponents who are afraid of “re-defining” marriage: If this country had not re-defined marriage, African-Americans could not legally marry whites. At the time of the 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, which ended race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States, 16 states still enforced laws that prohibited marriage between whites and non-whites. The parents of President-elect Barack Obama couldn’t have even married in nearly one-third of the states of the country that their son grew up to lead.

Most of us have seen marriages that make us uneasy. Perhaps the bride and groom “rushed” into it, or it was a marriage of convenience, or even a marriage in which the bride or the groom unknowingly committed merely to mitigate his or her fear of being alone. Throughout history how many marriage like these have existed? Countless!

Is this the “sanctity” of marriage that so many Americans desire to uphold? In our world that too often seems to overlook our similarities and accentuate our differences, our marriages — despite our efforts and despite our love — only stand a 50-50 chance of lasting. These odds sound dreadful to most of us, but for homosexuals these odds are the vehicle to living a life that most of us take for granted. These people just want that chance.

And to those who attempt to remedy this discrimination by offering civil unions, let’s learn from our history: Separate is not equal.

Chris Orlando,
Lawrence