Yesterday my local newspaper, The Record, printed another of my letters to the editor. This one wasn't in response to somebody else's letter, but my comments on the recent court ruling on same sex marriages. The letter as printed follows:

Welcome gay marriages

With the debate on homosexual marriage about to ratchet up a notch, I would like to offer an analogy.

If we were to look at common opinions on interracial marriages a few generations ago, what would we see? Most people would have disapproved of a white person marrying a black person, with some people engaging in slander and violence. Many white parents would have been shocked at their daughter for wanting to engage in miscegenation and some priests and ministers refused to perform the ceremonies. Nor was the use of scientific arguments against interracial marriage limited to Germany in the 1930s. While race was not as big an issue here in Canada as in the United States, these attitudes still existed.

If somebody were to speak out against interracial marriage today, we would call them bigoted. "Love is colour-blind," we would say.

So what is the difference between interracial marriage and same sex marriage? None that I can see, and if I ever know a homosexual couple who get married I will be just as delighted for them as I would be for any other couple. Shouldn't we all?

Me, I just can't understand why somebody would want to prevent twp people who love each other from getting married. I don't see how same sex marriage harms anybody, not even those nitwits who think that gay people are out to "convert" (pfft!) them or their children.

Sometimes, when my intolerance for intolerance (yes, ironic, I know) overwhelms my compassion I wish that every person who is against same sex marriage would have a close friend or family member come out of the closet. Perhaps then the anti-gay people, as they see directly the effects of intolerance, would realize that homosexual people are just that – people. Hopefully they would develop some true compassion. The thing is, even though I am pro-gay rights and do not feel that it is sinful at all (I apply the same standards re sexual fidelity, etc.. to straights & gays), I would never wish it up on a person to have to endure the intolerance and abuse that openly homosexual people suffer.Thus my wish will be for naught.