Laws on marriage are discriminatory

Gene Maril states that there is no discrimination involved in prohibiting same-sex unions because "We heterosexual people are also not allowed to marry persons of the same gender, so where is the discrimination?" Why in the world would a heterosexual person want to marry someone of the same sex? Then, to add insult to injury, he goes on to say that homosexuals have the right to marry people of the opposite sex.

Of course they do, but unless they want to remain closeted, why would they? To have children?

Well, adoptions by homosexual couples are legal in many states and, if they don't want to adopt, science has progressed to the point that they can have children.

Then he accuses a lesbian of asking for special treatment because of her lifestyle. So we can add that as a third ridiculous statement, although not quite as ridiculous as the first two. Dayle Roberts is not asking for special treatment; she is asking for equal treatment under the law.

I do, however, agree with his statement that "Never in history have people of the same sex been granted the right to marry."

Well, Mr. Maril, it is only a scant 25-30 years since standing miscegenation laws in many states were abolished but, before that, never in history were two people of different races been granted the right to marry. In fact, it was against the law for people of different races, no matter what their gender, to even walk on a sidewalk together in those states. It took the civil rights movement to change that and history is now just that - history.

A few enlightened states in our country have legalized same-sex marriage and I applaud them. My hope is that some day, in the not-to-distant future, laws against same-sex marriage will go the way of the miscegenation laws. In closing, I wish to thank Mr. Maril - this is the first letter I have read that did not cite religion as a justification for discrimination.

Judith A. Carlson

Des Plaines