Letter to the editor

Support gays’ right to marry

In response to the editorial “Gays deserve equality, right
to marry” (Feb. 18):

It’s about time politicians realized gays should be
allowed to marry. Over 2,600 couples have wed in San Francisco
since the city began issuing gender-neutral marriage licenses last
Thursday. The world did not come to an end, and now 2,600 more
couples will be able to enjoy the benefits and protection of
marriage previously denied them merely because they happened to be
the same gender.

I have yet to read a compelling opinion for why gays should not
be allowed to marry. Opponents of gay marriage have offered only
weak and unfounded arguments thus far.

Some say marriage should be between a man and a woman because
that’s the way God intended it. I’m glad their God was
so specific, but please don’t foist this religion on the rest
of us.

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times had a picture of a man
carrying a sign that read “I want to marry my dog.”
Personally, I’d hope to give the dog credit for better taste,
but the man’s point is irrelevant ““ marriage is
conducted between two consenting adults.

Other opponents argue that if we allow gays to marry,
we’ll next be legalizing incestuous marriages. Last time I
checked, there weren’t many incestuous couples banging down
the door of city hall demanding to be married.

That people would deny a significant portion of our population
equal rights on the basis of such abstract and fallacious reasons
completely boggles the mind. But I forget ““ discrimination
never makes much sense.

Tanya Panichpakdee Fourth-year, English and
history