LETTER: Marriage should continue to be between man and woman

Close to the end of William Powell’s April 16 editorial on the need for same-sex marriage, he stated that “there is not one rigid traditional norm” to marriage. In referencing author Stephanie Coontz, Powell cited that the 5,000-year history of marriage is rooted in kinship, alliances, estate planning, love and economics.

The one “rigid traditional norm” he conveniently forgot to mention is that during these same 5,000 years, marriage has been celebrated between men and women.

It’s sad that Powell did not realize or acknowledge that the one traditional norm that has been constant with marriage for all of these years is that it has been between men and women. Plain and simple. And that remains the crux of the matter.

I wonder if the desire of Powell and others to hijack the term "marriage" and redefine its meaning is one of the reasons he and his cohorts run into so much resistance? Wouldn’t it be nice to see what would happen if advocates of same-sex marriage selected another term to identify their relationship, publicly and legally?