Why Weddings?

First published at 365gay.com on July 2, 2010 I’m at a wedding for a same-sex couple, in the chapel anteroom before the service, and the grooms are sweating profusely. It’s not because they’re nervous. It’s because they’re wearing black wool tuxedos, it’s a humid 90-degree day, and like most old churches, this one isn’t air-conditioned.… Continue reading Why Weddings?

Happily Ever After

First published at 365gay.com on June 25, 2010 Three years ago I wrote a column “Young Love, Older Love” about a couple I called “Bob” and “Jim.” At the time I wrote [http://www.indegayforum.org/news/show/31405.html]: “My partner Mark and I introduced ‘Bob’ and ‘Jim’ at a dinner party at our place. Bob, 31, is recently out of… Continue reading Happily Ever After

Crush

First published at 365gay.com on June 18, 2010 “I think I’m in love,” my friend announces. “You knew him for five minutes,” I retort. We’re both exaggerating. My friend—let’s call him Bob—met a guy while traveling, and they hit it off. Literally they spent hours together, though much of that was in, um, “non-verbal” communication.… Continue reading Crush

The Gay Parenting Difference – and Why it Doesn’t Matter to Marriage

First published at 365gay.com on June 11, 2010 Opponents of marriage equality often refer to the “untested experiment” of same-sex parenting, asserting that we just don’t know how children in these families will fare over the long haul. They point to the fact that there has never been a significant long-term longitudinal study of such… Continue reading The Gay Parenting Difference – and Why it Doesn’t Matter to Marriage

My Daddy’s Name is ‘Donor’

First published at 365gay.com on June 4, 2010 In our public debates over marriage equality, Glenn Stanton often holds up a picture, taken from a lesbian parenting website, of a small child wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words “My Daddy’s Name is Donor.” The line usually elicits a laugh from the audience, prompting Glenn… Continue reading My Daddy’s Name is ‘Donor’

Is it Appropriate to Ask if a Potential Justice is Gay?

First published at 365gay.com on May 21, 2010 “Are you, or have you ever been, a homosexual?” From the moment President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, observers have been itching to ask her some version of this question—or as I’ll call it, The Question. For… Continue reading Is it Appropriate to Ask if a Potential Justice is Gay?

The Message of Marriage

First published at 365gay.com on April 30, 2010 If I’ve asked it once I’ve asked it a hundred times: how does marriage equality hurt heterosexuals? Recently I posed the question yet again to Maggie Gallagher, outgoing president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), as she visited my ethics class at Wayne State University via… Continue reading The Message of Marriage