If they can't marry, what should they do?

Here’s a question for those who are against gay marriage: What exactly should gay people do with their lives? Be alone and celibate? Have an endless stream of affairs? Even when they are in their 80s? Should they undergo “therapy” to change their sexual orientation, despite extremely low success rate and lasting harm these “programs” can cause? Do they think those things are better, healthier ways for gay people to live than marriage? It seems so much of this gay marriage debate stems from not taking homosexuality seriously, or even truly admitting that it exists. (I think the same thing could be said about their attitude towards sex in general.) Trust me, puritans, gay people are not just straight people acting perverted in order to piss you off. They are really gay.  

When sensible folk criticize Bush’s war and his strategy, the retort is often something along the lines of, “Well, what would you have him do?” And if we’re serious about our war criticism we should have an answer to that (mine: set a firm, quick timetable for withdrawal that does not depend on “milestones” over which we have almost no control whatsoever). Similarly, when people, for whatever reason (I think it’s old-fashioned prejudice) assert that gay people shouldn’t marry, I think we are right to demand, “Well, what would you have them do?” If you don’t have a better plan than marriage, quit complaining about it.