"We can't expect to sustain relationships alone. Circles of kin and community are needed to survive the long haul, whether in dealing with new infants or unexpected fluctuations. The weakening of other ties makes sustaining marriages much harder, for marriage has not traditionally been a private matter. One of the most important reasons for affirming gay marriages is to give gay couples as well as straight couples the social support that all couples need to sustain them. Couples of many years standing cherish common friends, who can urge them to keep trying and can remind them of a common history, wisely refusing to take sides. Couples are set loose, like two passengers in a lifeboat, when they move across the country to retirement communities, leaving the friends and the history they have shared, the landscapes that evoke the best of times and the worst, the support systems that have made a shared life possible."
Mary Catherine Bateson, Willing To Learn, 2004
Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2012/02/01/1973410/senate-votes-28-21-to-legalize.html#storylink=cpy
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