Red Meat: I haven't yet weighed in on Tuesday's momentous decision in Massachusetts concerning gay marriage. I'm glad that they have come to the conclusion that there is no reason gays should be denied marriage. And yet I am worried about the backlash that is starting. Stanley Kurtz from that National Review opined on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" today that while society should be tolerant of gays, supporting marriage would in essence weaken straight marriage. He cites the example of Scandanavian countries where gay domestic registry laws came to pass and less straight people got married. Okay, how do the two correlate? So, if I decided to get married to a guy, then that might make my hetro friends less likely to get hitched?

I think there are many reasons the marriage rates in Scandanaiva are low. First off is the role of women. Women and men are more equal and there for women are not in a rush to marry and more willing to leave a marriage should things go south. The falling marriage rates here are probably for the same reasons, not because I or any of my fellow gay friends decide to tie the knot. I don't think it is a bad thing that women have more of a say in how they choose to be treated by the opposite sex or the same sex for that matter. Women are no longer viewed as property or as the weaker sex, but as full and equal partners that are able to decide for themselves what they want from a partner and the freedom to walk away. THAT is what has changed marriage, not me.

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