Right after graduate school I was hired by an employee assistance program (EAP) provider in Chicago. I was assigned to an area that had a high population of gay adults, therefore I had the opportunity to provide gay couples counseling services early in my career. With that experience I saw how people in same sex relationships were just as committed and worked just as hard to maintain a healthy, loving relationship as hetero couples. These people deserve the legal rights that marriage allows just as much as “traditional” couples. I can see that some individuals may have difficulty with the term “marriage” due to Judeo/Christian beliefs; perhaps we can come up with a middle ground “legal union” to provide protection to commited gay couples while repecting religious beliefs of others.
