Family

You thought I had given up on this blogging thing - didn't you?  I'm back and will even switch topics from the realm of Caden's sporting life.

A mailing came recently that seemed tame at first glance - but it's always those second glances that get me to thinking.  It's from Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) which is a statewide organization that works toward advancing equal rights for us gay folk here in our fine state.  I think they actually use the term "Gay Rights" but I've never been comfortable with that term myself because I want "Equal" rights to the hetero population and using the other term just makes it sound like we want something special - which we don't.  No big whoop though - just a little quirk that I have.

Anyway...kind of went off on a tangent there and although this post involves a tangent - that's not the one I want to harp on.  This particular mailing is for their new campaign to make same-sex marriage legal in Oregon.  Not Domestic Partnerships and not Civil Unions - but truly equal "Marriage".  All well and good and I am totally on board with working towards that goal.  My problem with their campaign literature is the manner in which they are wording it.  One simple sentence states this about marriage, "...it does give couples who want to make a lifetime commitment to each other and be a family the ability to do so."  Whoa!  Read that again please.

Have you caught on to my gripe?  State licensed marriages do not hold the key to lifetime commitment and family.  (Reference my Newt Gingrich posts,)  My little household has formed a family that is committed to each other even without marriage.  We want to have the equal marriage for many reasons - but it is not a precursor for confirming our commitment to each other or our ability to be a family.

Come on BRO - stop muddying the waters.  People make their own families and commitments - without the state's help.  Marriage gives those families rights and responsibilities.  Let's not confuse the issue.