I'd like to thank my friend, Corinne Innis, for her thoughts and ideas about same-sex marriage rights, which helped shape this letter. It was printed in amNY on November 14, 2008:

The first gay marriages in Connecticut mark a step forward for a civil rights cause that has been stumbling as of late. With the passage of California's Proposition 8, which only recognizes unions between a woman and man, and the vice-presidential debate, during which both tickets flatly refused to support same-sex marriage, the nation desperately needs an identifiable leader to champion the rights of gay Americans. If only the president-elect, so ideal in so many ways for our country, was on the right side of this issue.