Gay Marriage = Marriage

The comment above simulatenously saddens me and infuriates me. As forward-thinking and liberal as our class may be, the rest of the world is not with us. This angers me. Lucky for me, I was born straight. Lucky, you might ask? What a strange word choice. But it is not. Straight, while a simple adjective like brunette or short, which also happen to describe me, is one that is not questioned. I am able to choose to identify myself, love whoever, act however, without any questioning. I am simply, and Anne this is a shout-out to you, being "normal". If I had been born gay, I would be facing questioning and disapproval from many for simply making choices for myself that my straight peers were expected to make. Suddenly, my identity, life partners, and actions would constantly be questioned and tainted because I was gay. Or because someone could say, "oh, that's because she is gay". 

This picture is really interesting to me and reminds me of a conversation that I had with my uncle. My uncle is the kind of guy that gets right to what he is thinking rather than dancing around a topic, which I love. One night, he asked, why do gay people feel the need to come out of the closet? It's not as if straight people feel the need to announce, "hey guys, I'm straight!" I have thought a lot about this comment. Is this technically an offensive comment? (For those of you who are offended by my uncle, it was 100% not intended as an offensive comment.) Should straight people also come out? In some ways, I agree very much with my uncle. I believe that one should love whomever they choose to love, be it man, woman, trans, unsure, gender-queer, etc. Although, I draw the line at people. Beastiality makes me uncomfortable. But within the human world, I say, go for it. You should not have to explain yourself to anyone. Nor should you have to quantify it. A "gay lover" could just as easily be called a "lover". The issue of "gay marriage" is one of human marriage and human rights and human equality. A marriage signifies the love and committment between two people. Why do genitals matter? And if copulation is added into the mix, should old people not be able to marry?