Gay marriage will be legal eventually

I got married last week. Technically, it was a civil union, but in our eyes (and the eyes of our many friends and family) it was a marriage. We got married for the same reason straight couples do — we found the person we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with. We bought a house in Round Lake three years ago and had already sat with a lawyer to protect our financial interests and ensured that each other would be the power of attorney in case of an emergency, so we didn’t need the legal protections the civil union offered us. We wanted it for the same reason straight couples want to get married: We wanted to declare our love for each other and enter the bond of matrimony in front of our loved ones.

Like most people who wed in their 40s and 50s, we don’t intend to have children. The purpose of a wedding is not to reproduce, although we already have a daughter. She stood proudly next to my partner and I as we said our vows to each other. Nor will my wedding strengthen or weaken anyone else’s relationship.

My civil union gives me most of the rights of my neighbor’s marriage, but theirs doesn’t end at the state line. We are back to separate but equal status that failed so miserably 50 years ago. And leaving gay marriage up to the voters is wrong as well. If we waited for the voters to decide to grant civil rights on their own, this country would look very different. I believe the courts will continue to protect the minority from the will of the majority and, very shortly, my civil union will become a marriage.

Deborah N. Jones

Round Lake