Women and marriage

At the Raleigh gay-rights rally, organizer Will Elliott stated that California's Nov. 4 passage of Prop 8, constitutionally preserving marriage as a one man-one woman union, was "the first time in my life I felt discriminated against" (news story, Nov. 15).

From a feminist point of view, that is amazing! Most women, worldwide, live with sexual discrimination every day of their lives. Abandoned or divorced women and their children are among the most impoverished and neglected groups in our society. Too many fatherless kids turn to gangs or crime. How fortunate this is not his past experience!

So why oppose terms for keeping opposite-sex unions unique (and, among other things, valuing maternal, paternal and other established familial roles)? Perhaps traditional marriage doesn't affect homosexual maturation, but for majority heterosexuals it's proven to be fundamental for healthy development.

This ballot reaffirmed heterosexual marriage as simply different from other sexual relations. Religious traditions prize matrimony after centuries of negative experience with bigamy, polygamy, ritual prostitution, sex trade, etc. Give traditional marriage some respect, too!

Elliott's experience of tolerance speaks for itself; most people accept differences. I'm a 60-something grandmother, and if women had his track record, I'd be dancing in the streets.

Joanne S. Beckman, Durham