Rights, yes, but marriage, no

J.A. Shatkin writes this letter to the editor:

Our gay and lesbian friends and relatives have been done a disservice by the activists and in-your-face types who would cram gay marriage down the throats of a majority which has already defeated it once before.

The much more obvious solution would be to concentrate our efforts on enlarging the gay partnership laws to include all the rights and responsibilities now given by marriage. If such a proposition were put before the voters, I've no doubt it would pass in a heartbeat. Just don't call it "marriage."

California law has already done that enlargement. The legislature has already passed that law, and gay couples already have those rights under state law. Prop. 8 only affects whether it can be called marriage.