Letter: Gay couples win with judicial checkmate

A group of gay people stood on one side of a giant chess board. Assembled on the other side were the combined forces of the Catholic and Mormon churches. The gays, who just wanted to marry the person they loved, faced aged prophets, stake presidents, archbishops and monks, all of whom were determined to keep the past upon the throne.

Then in a clever move that all chess players know as "Proposition 8," the gays were left staring at the board with 90 percent of their pieces removed. Meanwhile, their opponents congratulated themselves on having preserved the values of the Dark Ages.

Some time passed and a gay couple moved one of their remaining pieces. "Checkmate!" they cried and walked away.

The forces of intolerance were left speechless, mumbling nonsense about the "massacre of marriage." After all, Utah's Coral Mangus, 63, and Andrea Dahl, 56, saying "I love you" and "I do" is about the worst evil imaginable. Really?

All Mormons and Catholics of good will should join in celebrating Coral and Andrea's marriage, and the other gay marriages as do I, a straight male, 67 years old, married 44 years.

Roger Carrier

Sandy