i have a niece, ruby, who is the most well-adjusted, normal 1.5 year-old that anyone could ever ask for. she’s
smart as a whip, cute as a button, likes to give her uncle kisses
when he asks [ which makes him so very, very happy ], likes to
dance, likes to give her food to dogs and loves to take pictures.
ruby is all these things and much, much more; as uncle walt would
say, she is big
– she
contains multitudes

. it just so happens that ruby’s parents are lesbians. of course,
ruby doesn’t care, despite the fact that many other people might.

i’m very proud that ruby’s parent’s are featured in a

chicago tribune article on gay marriage

[ free registration might be required ]. it’s astounding to me in
2003 that sane people can’t differentiate between the religious and
civil implications of marriage:

“”Some people are upset because they see marriage as a
religious institution, and it is for many people, but it is also a
civil institution. The Pope decides what unions the Catholic Church
will recognize, and that’s fine. A same-sex marriage wouldn’t
change that. It wouldn’t force any religion to do that if it didn’t
want to.””

ruby has parents and a circle of support that
would make any child from heterosexual parents envious. gina and
diane should be allowed the same rights as any other couple and to
deny them those rights is unconscionable. if you think otherwise
you’re ignorant and support politicians who are practicing
ostrich
politics

of the worst sort and you should be ashamed:

“Ostrich Politics is about sticking your head in the
sand and refusing to view immoveable facts as a practical,
reasonable basis for policy. Will pushing abstinence by instilling
fear actually stop people from having sex? No, say the studies:
people are simply going to have sex. Except they might have unsafe
sex because the information about safe sex is not being made
available. Will refusing to recognize gay couples (10% of the
population) somehow make them go away? No, say the scientists.
Homosexuality is not a disease. It can’t be “cured,” and doctors
have known that since the 1970s. Homosexuality just is. It’s a
fact. Yet life-long homosexual partners are forced to live their
dedicated, loving relationship in a social no-man’s land, without
proper healthcare support, government benefits, or inheritance
rights.

Faced with facts they don’t like, Ostrich Politicians choose to
ignore them and enact policy that would make sense if these facts
never existed. Not only will this fail to achieve intended goals,
but the actual results are disastrous: more people having
unprotected sex, and more citizens ostracized by the government.
“