Gay marriage has nothing to do with the papers you get. I could careless what others think of my relationship. It is about all tax paying citizens being treated fair. My parter and I have been together for 9 yrs. He recently got a job with a company that offers domestic partner health benefits. It is great that they offer these benefits but if I except them I have to clam that as income on my taxes. Now if we were a "straight married" couple the government and state wouldn't tax me for these benefits. Also we have to file our taxes separately even though our money is combined. This cost us hundreds of dollars in taxes more then straight married couples pay. How is that fair???

Years ago I also thought gay marriage wasn't a big deal. I don't believe the government should have anything to do with peoples relationships. But they are involved by giving tax and other benefits to married couples and this is not going to stop. If the government is going to offer benefits to one group of people then they need to make it available to all tax payers.

As for what to do to help the gay marriage cause. I personally don't think marching in pride parades helps much. A lot of these parades just fuel the "right" and give them ammo against us. I think living out in the open as much as possible is the best thing one can do. Write letters to government officials regarding gay issues in your state. This lets them know we are here and not going anywhere. I believe political action is the best way to further our rights.

The bottom line is "marriage" is just a word. All I really want is equality, what ever they call it.