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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, Copy editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

I'll try to adapt to new HDTV

When my wife and I married in 1981, we each had black-and-white TV sets.

Immediately, we were a two-TV-set family.

We could get all three major networks, plus the local PBS station and a couple of independent stations.

When our daughter came along, my wife decided we should shop for a color set.

The salesman asked about my noticeable lack of enthusiasm.

"I grew up with black-and white television," I told him. "I don't want a color set 'til they get 'em perfected."

His response: "I bet you don't drive a car."

As my children grew, they tried to convince me that we should get cable television, but I told them, "If God had meant for television to come through wires, he wouldn't have invented air."

Now, the government tells me I'll have to get digital television by February or my televisions won't work. Frankly, I prefer a fuzzy picture to the near perfect HDTV pictures.

I can't afford new TV sets, and I don't want converter boxes all over the house; so I'll probably get cable HDTV. I'll get accustomed to it, but, please let me have it in black and white.

Why is same-sex marriage such a big deal?

A decision by the California Supreme Court that gay and lesbian couples in that state have the right to marry means the issue is likely to return to Washington.

I like Washington's compromise, giving domestic partners most of the rights and responsibilities of married heterosexual couples, but using a different term.

The equal-protection clause in the California Constitution that the court said prohibits bans on same-sex marriage is just like the one in the Washington Constitution that the Washington Supreme Court has said allows such a ban.

So, same-sex marriage may be coming our way again, and I have to ask, "So what?"

We've given same-sex couples a chance to live, and raise their children, in legally sanctioned relationships, but many think they need the title of marriage for their partnership to be complete.

I think that gay and lesbian couples can have fulfilling relationships within our current domestic partnership laws, but I don't think the "marriage" title is worth fighting against.

Opponents of same-sex marriage talk about preserving traditional marriage.

The best way to preserve traditional marriage is to love our husbands and wives, and to stop worrying about the sexual preferences of others.

I realize that many people consider homosexuality to be immoral, but society allows many things that people consider immoral.

Homosexual unions are here to stay. The only question is what we're going to call them.


Evan Smith is Enterprise forum editor. Send comments to him at entopinion@heraldnet.com.