It's a long way down to the conservative high ground

This letter the editor appeared in today's Tribune

There are two main objections to same-sex marriage. One is the conservative objection: The concept of marriage applies only to man and woman, but that doesn’t mean that same-sex couples shouldn’t have equivalent civil and legal rights as committed couples. Marriage is much more than a mere legal institution, but the legal part of it should be available to gays.

The other is the mean-spirited objection: Same-sex couples should not share the same civil and legal rights as married couples, because only opposite-sex couples should have those rights. Homosexuality is wicked and disgusting. Gays should have no rights at all.

I hold the first view. How many of us hold the second?

Bangs Tapscott

Salt Lake City

 Very sweet of you to show how warm-hearted and open-minded a conservative such as yourself is, Bangs, but there are a couple problems with your reasoning. The concept applies only to a man and a woman? Says who? Are you on the marriage board? Can the public just not conceptualize  two people of the same gender marrying one another, and therefore it cannot happen? Is this an argument from tradition? Traditions are not justice. Traditions are not law. Breaking from tradition is not a legal infraction.
Let me review your ideas on the topic. Marriage is  "much more than a mere legal institution" but "the legal part of it should be available to gays". This would seem to imply that you believe the parts of marriage that you think exist outside of the legal system should remain illegal for homosexuals. This is of course a problem. Every part of marriage, including the word itself, that can be governed by the law is within "the legal part of it" and, by your own reasoning, should be available to gays. Any part that is outside the law is of course not subject to it and cannot be included in a policy debate.
What it comes down to is you think heterosexuals own the semantic part of marriage and should not share it with the lower-class homosexuals. They should have their own institution, seperate but equal to the dominant culture and religious views. How very gracious of you.