[chumdawg]

I'll chime in here. I view the remarks as definitely being about gay marriage in particular, as apposed to homosexuality in general. However...

We definitely are talking about discriminatory "action" here. Keyes is advocating a policy that would take away from gays a right (the right to marry) that heterosexuals have. At least in the case of marriage rights, I don't see how this could be viewed as anything but discriminatory.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that "discrimination" is a concept that is terribly abused these days. We discriminate in all kinds of ways, often for good purposes. We discriminate against youths when we deny them the right to use alcohol. We discriminate against pot smokers when we make marijuana illegal. We discriminate against hedonists when we make prostitution illegal. We discriminate against felons who have done their time when we make them identify themselves as such on job applications.

I don't think Keyes is a "kook" for voicing his opinions on these subjects. It would be a shame to believe that our culture is static, with no room for it to evolve. If enough people agree with Keyes (or whoever else brings the issue to the fore), we will all just have to be happy with it. And if enough people disagree, then we'll have to be happy with that too.

Having said all that, I will add that on some level I agree with Keyes on this issue. But I don't think it's worth fighting over. If gays can presently live together their whole lives and do as they wish in the privacy of their own home--which is fine with me, by the way--then little is lost in allowing gay couples to enjoy the same legal benefits that married couples have always had.