I have to join the voices of reason on this issue since I too, would like to experience first class citizenry some day. Being an openly gay man and enjoying relatively non-judgmental terms serving the City of Kingston as Alderman, I will say there is still the reality that some people would still act to deny equal rights to any minority.

Keeping the teachings of some religions out of the arguments for and against marriage equality, you find there is no strong reasoning to deny. The issue of recognizing same gender couples as equal in the eyes of the law should remain separate from religious institutions.

I have been married before, I know what we were eligible as a married couple in the eyes of our government and it had no relevance to what religion my wife and I were practicing. We may have gone our separate ways, but the reality that we once shared 1,400 rights that are denied same gender couples that are taken for granted every day.

Marriage in any meaning of the word, provides a strong family bond and secures the values that seems to have lost it's direction as those who would deny this right persist in demonizing the gay and lesbian community. With a 52% divorce rate amongst opposite gender marriages, the argument against marriage equality falls flat.