Honesty and Gay Marriage

White House Wants To Include Same-Sex Unions In Census Count

I oppose the redefinition of marriage for the simple reason that men and women are different and marriage is the term long used to recognize the fundamental event that occurs when we pair. BUT ... gay pairings deserve the same respect.

If I want my gay friends to respect and even treasure my partnership with my wife, then I should be able to show the same feeling toward others.

So this is a great step. I hope we can go further as well. Today people live in many forms of committed relationships. Heterosexual pairs marry but decide to remain childless. Is such a pairing less respectable than one with children? Is pairing without children not a marriage even when between man and woman?

One woman I know is married to one man but lives with two others and has done so for many years. Isn't their plural relationship worthy of respect too?

Seems simple to me. The government should leave the word marriage as it is but open the rights we give to commitment relationships as widely as our ever persistent taboos will allow. Using the census as a step toward understanding the variety of commitment folks have is a logical first step.