Shu

So my very first girlfriend was two years younger than me. Cute little blonde thing, miss her terribly. 6 months after we broke up, she started dating a guy, one year after we broke up they got married. She was 21 at the time. By 23 she was divorced. $300 and a half an hour was all it took to dissolve a union blessed by their personal private God.

I'm for gay marriage because I don't care and can't think of a good reason to be against it. Frankly, I see no real difference between being married, civilly unionizing, domestically partnering, and shacking up with my girlfriend, but then, I'm kind of an unfeeling bastard, so my view is skewed.

But my rather rambling point here is this: In the United States of America, what with our constitution and amendments and such, we the straight people have effectively destroyed the institution of marriage. It means tax breaks and impending alimony now. I don't really see anything to defend in that.

Sure, I'm exagerrating and being very cynical. But the divorce rate here is huge. Single parents are rampant. All because marriage is too easy and getting out of it is too easy. Twenty years ago, I was a minority because my parents were still together. Other than the religious argument, which is completely valid if you're of that persuasion, is there a downside? On the one hand, giving gays "the ring" gives them the same rights that straights have. On the other hand, giving gays "the ring" gives them the opportunity to be as miserable and messed up as well over half the couples in this country.