"No man can have society on his own terms."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American poet
Hayden, my oldest son, recently wrote to give us a first-person account of what's happening in San Francisco:
"Speaking of gay marriage, City Hall is about five blocks from my office. I've stopped by a couple of times to see what's going on... Thousands of gay couples have swooped into the city. Everyone here is just so happy. There have been no riots, no unrest, only a slight altercation when some protestors lay down in front of the hall to prevent anyone from entering. The cops dragged them away to loud cheers from those still waiting to get in, and I heard the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence lead everyone in the Star Spangled Banner..."
He referred us to an Onion article which we read with some amusement, wished us well, and signed off. Hayden is gay, if you haven't figured that out by now.
Lisbeth wrote him back expressing her support for him and her displeasure with the president for taking the stance he has:
"I have been so disappointed with Bush! ...when is someone going to speak up?...This is definitely one issue that I do not agree with him and his administration on and get sickened when they speak about it. And then there is Cheney with a gay daughter...where is he?"
Though she's upset at the president's proposal, she's glad that people are discussing gay rights, most particularly gay marriage, and feels that these debates will provide an opportunity for gays to show our society their intelligence, maturity, compassion and the genuine goodness that is within them.
While I've tried to maintain neutrality about gay marriage, and have resisted discussing it in this blog, I'm being pulled into the fray. I'd like to give you a few of my thoughts and feel the best way to do this is to share my response to Hayden's letter. You'll find it in the next post.
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