"Dear Abby" pro-same-sex Unions!! (even calls it gay marriage!)

[LynneSin]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucda/20060628/lf_ucda/gaybrothertakesastandbyboycottingmanswedding

GAY BROTHER TAKES A STAND BY BOYCOTTING MAN'S WEDDING By Abigail Van Buren
Tue Jun 27, 8:08 PM ET



DEAR ABBY: I am being married this summer to my fiancee of five years, "Beth." I had always assumed that my brother, "Mike," who is also my best friend, would be my best man. Mike is gay.

When I asked him, I was stunned at his response. Mike said he loves me and Beth, but refuses to be part of a ceremony celebrating something for which he is discriminated against emotionally, financially and socially. He refuses even to attend.

Now that I have been forced to confront this issue, I realize my brother is right. Beth thinks he should "get over it," and he needs to accept that it's just "the way things are in the world."

As hurt as I am, I can't hold against my brother his refusal to participate in what he refers to as a "reminder that he is considered a second-class citizen without the same civil rights" as I have.

How can I handle this without turning it into something that could overshadow what is supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life? -- DISAPPOINTED IN WESTLAKE, OHIO

DEAR DISAPPOINTED: By respecting your brother's decision, and reminding your bride-to-be that accepting the status quo is not always the best thing to do. Women were once considered chattel, and slavery was regarded as sanctioned in the Bible. However, western society grew to recognize that neither was just. Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain have recognized gay marriage, and one day, perhaps, our country will, too

Dear Abby gets it - I hope her readers - and she is read throughout the world, including the United States will get it too. And btw, Dear Abby is one of the biggest supporters of our troops by continuing on in her mother's tradition Operation Dear Abby which helps send letters & packages to our troops.

[joneschick]

1. Go Dear Abby!

---so gay marriage really can impact hetero marriage! In all seriousness, I wouldn't mind participating in some brain storming on how those of us in straight marriages and support our glbt brothers and sisters raise some consciousness of the basic unfairness. I don't think I would avoid attending a hetero marriage (boycott, so to speak)but I would most certainly attend and support gay marriages. I even got talked into doing a duet version of "Come, Grow Old with Me" with my husband for one wedding. The women pledging themselves to each other admired our marriage--and asked us to sing. Someone tell me what else I can do. I do the phone bank when asked, marched in PrideFest with my family and congregation.....

[Pithlet]

2. Good for her.

I also enjoy reading Dear Margo's column. She's Anne Lander's daughter, but I think she does an even better job than mom did. She seems very cool and progressive.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. Go Abby!

However, boycotting your own brother's marriage to make a political statement to... whom exactly?... seems quite rude. And completely unlikely to actually make any impact whatsoever. It's not like you're boycotting a public event where your absence impacts someone's bottom line. Family* should ALWAYS come first.

*My definition family is NOT blood relations. It's the people whom you love dearly and devote loyalty to each other. My friends are my family a lot more than my blood-brother is, so obviously, I am not saying you should defer to your ultra-conservative relatives that disown you for whatever reason or anything like that.