Why I voted ‘No on One’

To the editor:
    This letter is in response to Brian McMann’s “Right Side of History” editorial last week. In his letter, Mr. McMann expressed happiness that Maine chose to allow same-sex couples to marry. I am a local resident who voted against same-sex marriage. In this letter, I aim to respond to some of the statements which Mr. McMann wrote which were inaccurate assumptions about “No on One” voters.
    Mr. McMann wrote, “Most of you probably don’t know a single gay person to begin with and your votes were cast based on fear of the unknown.” Not true. My sister is a homosexual. I love my sister and my love for her helps me to understand an important fact which is all too often forgotten in our society — true love does not mean giving the beloved whatever they want.
    True love witnesses to what is True and Right, even when this witness may lead to disagreement and sadness. Whether one is religious or agnostic, both theology and nature testify to the Truth that man was created male and female and that the sexual act is physically intended for only a male and female to share. This is a Truth that cannot be changed, regardless of Maine’s law. In fact, we see it stamped into our very bodies. How much do I love my sister? I love her so much that I won’t change the Truth to make her feel better about her life choices. I do not fear the unknown, I know her. I also know Truth.
    Mr. McMann wrote, “We do not want to adversely affect your lives in any way. All loving same-sex couples want is what you have.” I empathize with the suffering that homosexuals experience. We all suffer, but for different reasons. Certainly, one person’s suffering cannot be compared to another. Yet much suffering comes from a similar source — life giving us pain rather than happiness. The Truth is that homosexual couples can never have what heterosexual married couples have.
    This will remain a source of inner suffering for all people who try to make a square peg fit into a round hole. A homosexual marriage is not a union between a man and a woman and it is therefore a union which will never give the homosexual couple what a heterosexual couple has.
    From the beginning of time, monogamous relationships have been between males and females. God created the world in this way. He created males and females with specific roles and purposes in the marital relationship. Finally, He created marriage with a purpose for the male and female — to be helpmates to one another, to witness to God’s love in their love for one another, and to participate in His act of Creation by co-creating new persons with Him in the act of sexual intercourse.
    This is the Truth about marriage. It is a Truth which has been present here on Earth for over 250,000 years. It is to defend this Truth that I voted “No on One,” not for any other reason.
    And the Truth will stand — it is written upon our hearts and molded into our bodies.
Clare Desrosiers
Linneus