THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 24, 1996 TAG: 9609240004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 32 lines
In a few days my husband and I will celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary. We have had our share of difficulties, but we've always been able to depend on each other for help. What we have learned about marriage is that it takes patience, love and, most of all, commitment to make it work.
The person who taught me those virtues was a lesbian. She didn't just teach with words. Every day of her life she demonstrated decency and courage and compassion. She died a few years ago after battling cancer. Her partner stayed with her through it all, through the surgery, the chemotherapy, her final hours.
They both worked their whole lives and dutifully paid taxes to a government that refused to sanction their union because they were homosexual.
If you're heterosexual, you can dump one partner after another as often as you like and for any reason you like. If you decide you want somebody younger or sexier, or richer, the government doesn't intervene. If you refuse to work or pay taxes, the government will still give you a marriage license. If you are a convicted murderer or child molester, there's no problem, because you are heterosexual.
But no matter how hard-working and decent you are . . . no matter how loyal you are to your partner . . . no matter how much you contribute to your community, you cannot legalize your union because you are homosexual. Talk about a mockery of marriage.
PHYLLIS T. STEIN
Chesapeake, Sept. 16, 1996 by CNB