Letters: Gay marriage vs. the alternatives

Re “Court looks split on gay marriage,” March 27, and “Justices seem to side with gay couples,” March 28

I write not as a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk (Justice Charles Whittaker and Chief Justice Earl Warren) to express my views about the legal issues surrounding Proposition 8, but instead as the proud grandfather of a lovely biological granddaughter with two wonderful, loving and caring fathers.

Consider the alternative to her situation now: She could not have been conceived, or she could have a single parent. Is there anyone who would really believe either of these would have been better for her or her parents? While two heterosexual married partners may still be the ideal, too often children of heterosexual couples are conceived out of wedlock. Is a child of such a heterosexual relationship better off than my granddaughter? Of course not.

One can only imagine in 1540 a Pope Scalia demanding of Copernicus: “And tell me, when did the Earth begin to rotate around the sun?”

James Adler

Los Angeles

Instead of insisting that government benefits related to health insurance, inheritance, hospital visitation, taxes and all the rest be extended to same-sex couples by changing the long-standing definition of marriage, why not create a new, all-inclusive legal category of family?

These “registered family units” (or a similar official name) would include married couples with or without children at home, same-sex civil unions, grandparents raising their grandchildren, children caring for elderly parents, siblings living together and the like. These families would need to be registered, just as marriages are.

Yes, let’s make right current injustices and treat all people fairly. But that does not mean we must change our nation’s definition of marriage — or God’s.

Bonnie Compton Hanson

Santa Ana

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