In an editorial, the Tonawanda News takes the rhetoric out of the debate over marriage equality and breaks it down to the basics–the rights of couples and their children.

Too quickly this debate is moved from the arena of public policy into one fought on religious grounds. Paterson and state lawmakers are not religious leaders, and those who support the measure do not seek to weaken those religious institutions that stand in opposition.

This is a legal question — a debate over public policy, and whether our laws treat all New Yorkers fairly. They don’t.

If justice is truly blind, then surely gay people deserve the same legal protections as straight people. Rights like hospital visitation, joint tax filings and child adoption are granted to some in our state, but not all. That is the very definition of injustice.

If your religious beliefs are offended, we would question why. Your church will never be legally obligated to perform, or even recognize, homosexual marriages if it doesn’t want to.

Four states now allow gay marriage and none have been besieged by plagues or fallen into the sea. Indeed, it’s been the opposite. States that have allowed gay marriage see a drop in divorce rates. More children have loving homes.

If you’re a New Yorker, then join the conversation and tell others what marriage means to you!

Long Island Assemblyman Fred Thiele issued a statement on Monday, supporting marriage equality, showing an evolution in his position over the past two years.

“I didn’t support the bill in 2007 because I thought equal rights could be guaranteed through civil unions. Since then more states have experimented with civil unions as separate but equal, only to find that discrimination persisted in health care and other areas. The only way to ensure equality is by giving all couples access to the same civil right – the right to marry.”

Separate but equal, is still not equal–and it is good to hear the case being made by conservatives like Assemblyman Thiele.

“After hours of conversations, meetings and reading, I have come to the firm conclusion that all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, should be treated equally Civil unions simply do not provide that equality in more than 1,300 legal categories.”

Republican Assemblywoman Janet Duprey, who voted against marriage equality in 2007, has seen her position evolve after hearing from fellow New Yorkers about what marriage means to them.

“In all of the discussions I have had with my constituents, the ones that moved me the most were the parents of homosexual children whom they love dearly,” Duprey said. “To a person these parents expressed their desire to see their gay and/or lesbian children share the same benefits, protection and love with their partners as their heterosexual siblings do with their spouses.”

Duprey further met with large numbers of homosexual individuals and couples, most in long-term relationships, some with children, and all asking for equal protection under the law.

“After hours of conversations, meetings and reading, I have come to the firm conclusion that all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, should be treated equally,” Duprey said. “Civil unions simply do not provide that equality in more than 1,300 legal categories.”

Only when the public educates their leaders on the issue of marriage equality will we see more courageous politicians like Assemblywoman Duprey change their minds.

Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward make an impassioned plea in 2007 for marriage equality when the issue was first brought to the Assembly in Albany two years ago.

“My son didn’t want to be different.  Lord knows he wanted to change,” said Sayward during the floor debate.  “It is not a life choice. My God loves my son. And as sure as I’m standing here tonight, this is certainly not for me, nor should it be for any of us, anything other than a civil rights issue.”

Assemblywoman Sayward is one of those Republicans who understand that in the case of marriage equality, conservative values like limited government and personal responsibility mean that marriage is a right that should be granted to ALL New Yorkers.