I was combing my social networking sites and noticed a reference from Anderson Cooper about “Gay Marriage”. I clicked on the link and read a thoughtful post in favor of eliminating discrimination in our great country.

I couldn’t resist reading some of the comments and quickly realized how much work the gay, lesbian and straight allies have to do. I don’t step out of the box all that much, but some of the insane rhetoric pushed me out of the closet and over the edge.

My response to one of the comments:

Cindy … When you peel away the layers of fear, discrimination against gays and lesbians is at the core of this issue. Let me share some of my challenges:

1. In many states, I can still be fired from a job for being gay, with no recourse.
2. I can be denied the right to visit or make health related decisions for my spouse if he is hospitalized.
3. My spouse can be denied bereavement leave when I die.
4. My spouse doesn’t get a share of my Social Security or pension after I die.
5. My spouse doesn’t automatically inherit my estate after I die.

As a gay man, these are only a few of the issues I have to think about everyday. Please tell me now how marriage between same-gender couples is so different from interracial marriage?