What my grandfather, John M. Vranizan, fails to see in his June 30 letter on "Gay marriage"is that my generation sees same-sex marriage as the civil rights issue of our time.
His argument that a civil union has the same benefits, without the title, is a modern version of the Jim Crow laws, being separate but equal. Since he grew up in that era, it is hard for me to understand how he can not see the link.
As to his views on the evolution of mankind: Evolution does not stop; we continue to grow and change in new ways. That is how our ancestors evolved from our great ape cousins, to develop a society more tolerant of people's beliefs and ways of living.
If I was sterile, with no potential to have children, I know my grandfather would want me to adopt, as he knows that being a good father is a life-long goal of mine. I do not comprehend how he could not allow gay couples to do so, too.
This issue does not change the way I love my Grandfather, or the way he loves me.
PATRICK M. SCHNEIDER
Southwest Portland
Schneider is 24. His grandfather is 75.
As the same paper's editorial put it a few days ago, "It's time to emancipate our state from the onerous Measure 36."
But, of course, undoing it won't be easy, though not impossible--requires amending the state's constitution. Oregon is one of the 29 states in a similar situation:
legislators are bound not by today's constituents but by yesterday's voters. Many of those voters aren't even around anymore. The strongest support for banning gay marriage, nationally and in nearly every state that has faced a referendum, has come from old people. In Arizona, California, Oregon, and Wisconsin, voters below the age of 30 opposed ballot measures to ban gay marriage but were outvoted by their elders. In Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia, young voters split almost evenly. Today, you can see the same pattern in Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, and other state and national polls. Gay marriage is becoming a majority position in part because people are changing their minds, and in part because a generation that's OK with homosexuality is replacing a generation that wasn't.
The question now is whether the new majority will get its way. To undo the constitutional amendments of the past decade, supporters of gay marriage will have to pass ballot measures in those states. In Nevada, they'll have to do it twice. Passing ballot measures is hard. People tend to vote against them out of suspicion and fear, particularly when you're messing with the constitution.
Meanwhile, our increasingly wimpy president, who with every passing day is testing the political winds, instead of going after good and correct policies, displays his verbal skills when he says that his views on gay marriage have been "evolving." Yeah, right! Looks like his ideas have been regressing ever since he announced his candidacy for the presidency!
"Evolve already!"
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