Bus Sighting in Florida

Senior Editorial Writer Gary Stein at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel mostly does a good job disarming the bigotry behind the opposition to marriage equality.

But, there was this bus sighting…

Same-sex marriage will lead to horrible societal aberrations, like polygamy. Really? Gay marriage is already allowed in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia. Maybe I've missed it, but I haven't seen an increase in social aberrations.

Polygamy is not a societal aberration. It has been practiced for all of history. It is not “horrible,” any more than monogamy. What makes a marriage horrible are the people in it. Polyamorists and others who might want polygamy should be able to get married.

Mr. Stein, the next time a bigot says “same-sex marriage will lead to polygamy,” say, “What would be wrong with letting an adult marry any consenting adults?” Their “objection” will be one of the others you effectively counter in your essay, so you already know how to handle that. Or feel free to use what I’ve written.

Clearly, same-sex monogamy is not polygamy. If a man wants to marry a man, he should have that right. But if a man wants to marry more than one person, male or female, he should have that right, too, and the same goes for a woman. Equality just for some is not equality.