An open letter to state Assemblyman Mark Weprin:
I am writing to oppose Gov. David Paterson’s bill to legalize same−sex marriage in New York state and urge you, as my elected official, to vote against it should it come before you for a vote.
All people have the right to live as they choose, but I do not believe one special interest group should have the right to redefine marriage for the rest of society. Marriage should not be gender−neutral. Gender matters. Traditional marriage and the nuclear family are the fundamental building blocks of our society. Marriage is about bringing together men and women, who, through their union, create children and provide for them a stable home.
The evidence is clear that children raised in homes with a married mother and father are healthier mentally and physically and are at reduced risk of educational failure, poverty and crime. Children raised in same−sex married homes would be denied either their mother or father. Same−sex marriage would eliminate in the law and weaken in the culture the idea that children should be conceived, born and raised by their married, natural parents.
It would eliminate the public meaning and purpose of marriage by redefining it as a private relationship of consenting adults rather than a commitment between a husband and wife in a mutually giving relationship that typically results in children. Moreover, it would limit religious freedom by forcing religious institutions to recognize the validity of these relationships, and in so doing, threaten the services of many charitable agencies.
Traditional marriage matters and lawmakers should be working to strengthen marriage rather than conducting radical experiments with it. Paterson’s proposal is bad for society and children.
I do not believe my views should be stigmatized as bigotry. If any group of people in our society lacks health care, insurance coverage or inheritance rights, then those problems should be fixed. Those can be fixed without redefining the fundamental meaning of marriage in our culture. It is not bigotry to acknowledge that, unlike other relationships, marriage by its nature needs a man and a woman.
I urge you to reject any measure that seeks to redefine marriage in state law.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Glen Oaks Village
