When I idealize marriage, I think of monogamous love sublime and indeed holy between a man and a woman. When I perceive marriage in fact it is as a rule a tool for monogamous room mates to legalize an otherwise vague share in the rent, or under contract to pool their full resources to buy a home and perhaps to bear or adopt children. I stress monogamy because I frown on “sleeping around” whether it’s in your own home or cruising the streets, it is still polygamy that thins out the richness of...

Should it matter to the guy who’s straight To snort and rile the one who’s gay? “Live and let live” I hear judgment say — Why ruffle feathers and adjudicate?   To confront a style that does no harm Is perhaps not human nature’s duty To march against what’s abnormality With righteousness and alarm.   Copyright © 2004 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: July, 20, 2004.  

A married person should always cooperate with his/her mate. The breadwinner of a relationship by definition should expect the other to be subservient. You approach a red light at four in the morning and no traffic, you should slow down but not bother to stop. A motorist abruptly cuts in front of you, which warrants a prolonged blare of the horn, profanity and the finger. A woman, absorbed in a shopping aisle wanders away from her cart and purse, you must be a busy...

It seems ludicrous that gay marriage is all about equal rights. What rights? Since when do “ordinary” married couples have equal rights? In the so-called co-dependency of the modern marriage there is always the dominant figure who demands rather than depends on the other — and that usually translates into the woman having fewer rights. Oh, to be sure, she is free to protest and nag but in the end she gives in to the macho who always insists his way is the only way, resulting in the fairer sex...

For a father of five grown children, trying to fathom the homosexual psyche is as difficult as a traditional lyricist penning the counterpoints of rap. Why, I ask, do two gay guys — let alone two gals — want to enter the tinsel world of marriage? It would seem to me that by definition they are “ different” and would prefer not to follow in the mainstream of bridal gowns , tuxedos, flowers, and the prohibitive cost of big weddings unless they are in the catering business and would net a profi...

There was a time in my day that the dating game was a perilous and costly venture. First, if you met — certainly not at bar — a girl of your liking you first had to prepare yourself for a meeting with the parents, especially the father; if approved, you had to have quite a few bucks in you wallet because the girl expected you take her to at least a palatial theater showing an early release of her choosing and then to an ice cream parlor for a rather costly sundae or banana split, or at a clea...

1) Does it matter to you that some of your friends are not religious? 2) After you have known someone for a while, do you care about his/her appearance? 3) Are you inclined to strike a relationship with someone who usually agrees with your politics? 4) Name the person you would want as President in 2005. 5) Do you attend a place of worship frequently? 6) Name your favorite actor and actress. 7) What talking head show do you view ...

 Good taste is a palatable trait that one likes to think he possesses. Unfortunately where there is good taste there is bad—but the latter resides with others, never with us. There are the gauche who have no class, the public offenders who know no bounds, the sports fans who reek of beer. Not us—we pick our noses in private, we are abusive only to loved ones, at an event we imbibe calmly from a silver flask. Those who will not torment their feet with dress shoes and white sox will scoff at ...