To the Editor:
It is correct to view gay marriage in the context of “perpetuation of the species,” but analyses showing that gay marriage will somehow decrease or denigrate our society’s ability to perpetuate itself show little grasp of real social and economic forces and lead to the wrong conclusion.
The perpetuation of the species depends on raising children successfully to adulthood. As any thoughtful parent knows, successful child-rearing depends on more resources than most nuclear families can provide by themselves.
In short, child-rearing is for many parents a humbling experience in which you discover just how much you depend on extended family, on friends, and on the community you live in–and their ability to help, particularly in times of trouble.
Of course, some of those family, friends, and neighbors are inevitably gay or lesbian. Their sexual orientation does not make them less of a family member, or less of a friend, or less of a neighbor, whose good will, stability, and prosperity we need and depend on, directly or indirectly.
Gay/lesbian Americans are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews, and yes, sometimes even parents and grandparents. They are community members and they are citizens of the United States of America.
Marriage is, among others things, fundamentally an economic relationship. It is a partnering and an intimate pooling of resources between two people, which, when the partners can make it work, reduces individuals’ living expenses and better enables them to attend to more than just their own day-to-day personal survival.
If you are looking to provide the best environment in which to raise children, the environment in which family, friends, and neighbors can provide the most support, in this uncertain world, you will support gay/lesbians’ right to marry.
Eivind A. Boe, Nobleboro
