I was walking down the street in the Village a few weeks ago and the two women walking behind me were having a conversation about gay marriage.

"I don't mind if they're gay," said one, "but when they want those special rights it gets me so angry."

What the hell are these people talking about? In terms of rights (that is to say, laws), what gay political groups are seeking is equal protection under the law–the guarantee that they will not be discriminated against. Let's look at gay marriage, for example.

Interestingly enough, gay people do have the right to get married; just not to whomever they want. Note the parallel to Loving v. Virginia, where citizens were granted the right to marry people of different races. Basically, each citizen has the right to marry, and this is the basis for the recent court decisions allowing gay marriage, e.g., Massachusetts.

It's been common knowledge that Kerry is against gay marriage in favor of civil unions. Now I hear that Bush has essentially said the same thing (hard to believe, I know)!

Let's be clear here: civil unions are <b>not</b> equal protection under the law. That <b>would</b> constitute special rights (not to mention that it creates what is essentially a second-class marriage for… second class citizens?). Honestly, I think it gives ammunition to those who say that the fight for equality aims for "special rights."

At base, this is a religious issue. The crux of this is, will the plurality of Americans (that is, born-again Christians) allow the other half to practice as they please?