...When we met a few months ago at a reception following a gay marriage debate you had with Andrew Sullivan, you were really quite charming, and we had a perfectly affable conversation on matters mostly unrelated to marriage equality. I have endeavored since that meeting to be more civil in discussions about your advocacy and have become more sensitive to (and distressed by) the personal attacks I sometimes see directed at you. I've tried to stick to what you say, while attempting to understand what you mean, since they are two entirely different things in most cases. You're a master of knowing your audience, and you were honestly an engaging person to talk to at that Washington & Lee reception. We agree on nearly nothing, but I took from that evening that you were a human being, and deserved to be treated as such. I still believe that.But the things you say are monstrous. Particularly because they put a polite and kindly gloss on something that at its heart is very ugly and does damage to a lot of people. "Not this, not now?" Sorry, but marriage equality is NOT an affront to civilized society, and when you hold it out as such, you make it harder for gay youth who through no fault of their own are stuck in communities and families that say they and their relationships are "less than" their friends who are straight...
I think that Ed Kennedy, this letter's author, is being kinder to Gallagher than she deserves. You can read the letter in its entirety HERE.
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