http://www.equalitymatters.org.../static/full_reasons

Please don't divorce us!

Love the quote: "Love can't be voted away"

My closest remaining friend from college married young and divorced after his son was born. His exwife has been involved with a woman for several years -- and married her in California during the time that it was allowed.

And I, of course, never had the opportunity to legally marry my ex. Now that I have married HoFS, I can say for certain that there is a huge difference.

The thing that breaks my heart is the pictures of kids asking the state not to divorce their families. I don't think you can hope to understand the profound legal effects that marriage has on families until you understand that a child's right to see her parents hinges, in many places, on that one thing. No matter what her biology is.

Seems harmful to keep a child from her parents. Seems like we as a society have a vested interested in children having stable homes. Homosexuality was for many thousands of years thought to be a threat to society. Why? Because gays and lesbians didn't reproduce.

Today, we do. Quite well, if we want to. Threat to society? Not anymore. Now we are one of the few elements of society that actually values marriage as a stable, enduring structure we wish to achieve. I don't think the GLBT community recognizes how profoundly it will change us. It will separate the pretenders from the real deal. It will force us to take a stand in front of God and everybody -- or be known as someone who really just wants to hide and not be known.

It will curb some of the stupid things that GBT people (yes, GLBT people) do to each other with power games.

And to go back to the most important thing, it protects our children, our society, and forces the GLBT community to fully enter the sexual/marital crucible that we have avoided for so long even as we fought for the right to have it.

The fight is a long one and we are a long way from done with it. There will be many thousands of people hurt in the coming years of fighting over this issue. Many thousands on both sides of the argument.

I do wish, though, that the argument were more than "Love will prevail." It's a powerful one. It tugs at our cultural heartstrings. And yet, there is more.

Our dignity as human beings will prevail. Our right and responsibility and determination to stand up and protect our families will prevail. Our integrity as members of the human society will prevail. Our strength and determination to live as productive members of society will prevail. The profound positive effect we can have on our society will prevail.

Then, then we will have something. Love is only the wrapping.