Even more Prop 8

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I can only write what I feel folks. I'm not entirely convinced by Rich Ford's argument here, but he's gotten to one essential truth, that has thus far gone unstated:

If we avoid the tempting but misleading analogy to race and look at what's directly at stake, the combination of widespread opposition to same-sex marriage and equally widespread support for other gay rights is easier to understand. Gay rights in employment and civil unions don't require the elimination of longstanding and culturally potent sex roles. Same-sex marriage does. And while a lot of people reject the narrow and repressive sex roles of the past, many others long for the kind of meaningful gender identities that traditional marriage seems to offer.

One guess at what group feels they were robbed of "meaningful gender identities," and thus likely long for them with a much greater intensity than the rest of the populace. It's quite likely that the same impulse that would attract men by the hundreds of thousands to the Million Man March--the sense that something had been lost--is the same impulse that would lead them to reject an expansion, and to their mind, a redefinition of marriage. I have been stuck on religion in this conversation--I've forgotten all about history. It really explains a lot. I know we're hurting folks. But it really is time to heal up and get it moving.