Dear Editor,

The stock market is in terrible shape, the nation’s debt is nearly a trillion dollars, half of Africa is starving and the other half is struggling with wars or deadly diseases, the polar icecaps are melting, and more and more people are being diagnosed with cancer. However, what is the big topic nowadays? You guessed it: gay marriage. Honestly, should we even be discussing this?

I’m going to be frank with everybody: Gay people aren’t really my cup of tea. Even though I’ve met some gay people and had some friends who later turned out to be gay, I’ve never really felt comfortable around them. But the bottom line is that gay people are exactly that: people. They are human beings who have feelings, and they express them in exceptional ways. Nevertheless, the “Yes on 8” supporters believe otherwise. For them, gay people are Satan’s minions out to get the children (darn it, not the children again). Americans frequently fail at providing logical arguments — it’s either the children or the Bible, but how malevolent and ignorant can someone be to literally abuse the emotions of the general population by putting children in their commercials?

My point is that the U.S. “tries” to portray itself as a democratic and equal society, but it is really terrible at living up to its claims. It’s none of my business to prevent someone else from marrying. It shouldn’t be anybody else’s, either. These people deserve to be together, to make it official and reap the advantages of being married like everyone else — the sole reason being they are no different from us. If you still believe they are different from you, then you are badly informed.

— Michael Blacking
Thurgood Marshall College junior