Jennifer Major

To the editor:

I am enthusiastically in favor of HB437, which is the civil unions bill. While I respect and appreciate our ability to have our own individual opinion on various issues, the quote included in the recent letter from Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Ekholm of Gilford was ridiculous! I have been in a long-term monogamous same-sex relationship for several years. I feel that children of same-sex couples are harmed more by the discrimination against them in emergency situations or by the harassment other children inflict upon them at school for having same-sex parents, as taught to them by their parents. To imply that civil unions will harm children is crazy; nothing could be further from the truth. Furthermore the quote goes on to say that the "adults probably will be no happier," why do you presume to be able to speak for me? I beg your pardon, but when I pay the same amount for my health insurance plan as my hetero-coworkers and when I can put my soul mate on my mortgage without penalty or extra expense my hetero-neighbors don’t have to incur — that will make me a lot happier! Finally, the insane comment referencing "the social order could collapse." I think the fact that the divorce rate has tripled in my generation alone, or the fact that Elizabeth Taylor can marry eight different times or Britney Spears drunken 45-minute marriage have done a lot more damage to the social orders’ collapse than my ability to be in legal union with my partner. I think the "sanctity of marriage" as illustrated by these and many more hetero-couples examples had been tarnished and all but obliterated long before we, in the fight of our lives to be privileged enough to join with someone that which so many others take for granted.

Jennifer Major

Gilmanton