Although we disagree with each other about the nature of marriage, we are united in the conviction that it is an issue on which reasonable people of good will can and do reach divergent conclusions.
To me, it is a continuing relationship between two individuals who commit their lives (including their sexual lives), their futures, and their fortunes to each other. The two individuals may be of opposite sexes or the same sex. If they have children—natural or adopted—that commitment extends to the children as well.
In thinking about the issue, "How should marriage be defined?" I want to begin with two Vermonters, Ann and Ellen, who have been together as a couple for more than thirty years.
