Marriage

Apparently the thought police are alive and well. How is it possible that in a country where everyone is supposed to be entitled to their opinion, a person can be judged unfit to write a comic book just because they oppose gay marriage ("Superman author choice won't fly, some fans say," Feb. 22)? What has the one thing got to do with the other? How many people reading a Superman comic even know the author's position on gay marriage, or care? Those who oppose gay marriage are just supposed to accept it without complaint, while those who support it are entitled to keep vilifying those who take a different view.

As you may have read, the Associated Press decided this week that its writers are permitted to use husband and wife for same-sex couples, in those jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal. Should you not have read about it, I commend to your attention a thoughtful op-ed article in the Los Angeles Times by Nathaniel Frank. It is not surprising that the AP should be squeamish about this. The Associated Press Stylebook took its sweet time to accept Ms. and gay for homosexual . Stylebooks, like those of the Associated Press and The New York Times are not comfortable in the vanguard.

It is not unusual to see art that tackles social and political issues, but there's still something startling about Jeffrey Kent's solo show "Preach!" at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park. The Baltimore artist zeros in on opposition by some African-Americans, especially in churches, to same-sex marriage. Kent employs provocative imagery, including minstrel figures in blackface, and an evocative substance: cotton. The impetus for the recently completed project goes back to 2008.

They've been married just over two years, but Andy and Seanne Herbick have already exchanged vows three times, most recently Sunday morning at their alma mater, Loyola University Maryland, with about 160 other steadfast lovebirds. Standing in the same stone chapel where they married the first time and listening to the same priest, the Hampden couple reiterated that, yes, they were still in it for good, bad, sickness, health and till death do they part. Since married life has quickly tried them on all of that — including, on the good front, the birth of their son P.J., who's now 13 months old — the words, if anything, ring truer.

When Maryland merchants talk about the recent legalization of same-sex marriage, they sometimes talk of broad, lofty themes: Equality. Justice. Civil rights. But there's another practical concept at work: Dollar signs. The financial motivation was on display Sunday at the second annual Gay and Lesbian Wedding Expo at the Tremont Suites Hotel & Grand Historic Venue in downtown Baltimore, where dozens of vendors competed for the attention of dozens of couples whose weddings now carry the official blessing of the state of Maryland.

Brendon Ayanbadejo doesn't need Super Bowl XLVII to assist the cause for gay rights and gay marriage. But the Ravens inside linebacker won't turn down the opportunity during the week in New Orleans to champion the push for equality. Ayanbadejo, who contributed to Maryland passing an initiative to legalize gay marriage in November, was peppered about using the lead up to the Super Bowl as a platform, but he pointed out that he doesn't really need to seek the cameras or recorders. “Organically, it was going to happen anyway,” he said after Friday's practice.

With the national spotlight shining on the Super Bowl-bound Ravens this week, linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo is apparently hoping to divert some attention off the gridiron. According to New York Times columnist Frank Bruni , just hours after Baltimore's AFC championship win, Ayanbadejo directed an e-mail to marriage equality advocates asking how he could utilize the increased Super Bowl media to help support same-sex marriage. Writing at 3:40 a.m. on Monday morning, according to Bruni, Ayanbadejo asked gay rights advocate Brian Ellner and Michael Skolnik, political director to Russell Simmons, whether there was “anything I can do for marriage equality or anti-bullying over the next couple of weeks to harness this Super Bowl media.” Later dubbing the note his "Jerry Maguire email," a reference to the late-night mission statement penned by Tom Cruise's character in the eponymous 1996 sports flick, Ayanbadejo told Bruni: "I got to thinking about all kinds of things, and I thought: how can we get our message out there?"

It wasn't a surprise to learn that famous-for-being-famous Kim Kardashian was pregnant by boyfriend of five months Kanye West. Celebs regularly put the baby carriage before marriage, and she is just the latest. And it wasn't surprising that her family tweeted - because that's how we communicate these days - their joy. We long ago stopped stigmatizing unwed mothers, even ones like Ms. Kardashian who is still tangled in divorce proceedings after her very brief marriage to basketball player Kris Humphries and may still be married to him when her baby is born this summer.

The spokeswoman for the fanatic Westboro Baptist Church, Shirley Phelps-Roper, recently made the following comments: "Connecticut has same-sex marriage, God sent the shooter into Newtown. " To equate the Newtown tragedy with same-sex marriage is one of the most horrendous statements a so-called Christian could utter. Ms. Phelps-Roper's moral turpitude is absolutely revolting. The sad thing is that there are so many like her. Geraldine Segal, Randallstown Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts