An open letter to Barack Obama about separate but equal

Dear Mr. Obama,

As a man of color, I'm sure you appreciate the idea that separate but equal, is neither equality nor justice. As the sister-in-law of a lesbian, I can tell you I share that same sentiment when it comes to the issue of gay marriage. I do have a problem with the heterosexual notion that we have some sort of Biblical entitlement to the word "marriage" but according to most Americans, marriage should be between one man and one woman. Okay, whatever. My proposal to you is this: Require all couples to seek out civil unions at their local courthouse. Easy as that. From the courthouses, they can move on to have their "marriages" in their houses of worship, parks, tents, wherever, and the government has finally separated themselves from the Church, in what I view to be a separation of Church and State issue. I have enjoyed a wonderful 20-year marriage with my husband, without the encumbrances of having to seek out and pay lawyers for the right to be at my husband's bedside if he's in the hospital, or the medical coverage afforded to us through marriage, etc, etc, etc. This is much more than a gay-straight issue, it's a humanity issue.

If people in America's past hadn't stood up for minority issues, where exactly do you think we'd be right now? I believe that as we remember the brilliant and ever-inspiring Dr. & Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. this week, we should also remember what he stood up for and died for...the right for all people to be respected and heard, and part of this great landscape we call America.