The sexual union of a married couple is procreative. By its very nature, the heterosexual act has the potential to create a child; thus it is communal. Parents and children form the building blocks of society. This is why marriage is so important—marriage actually creates communities, hence society’s interest in supporting it. In contrast, a homosexual union never produces children because it is intrinsically sterile. In this regard gay sex is not community-oriented. Vermont can never replenish her citizenry with gay sex.

Yes, men and women are equal in dignity and worth; however, their physical differences mean they are not identical when it comes to sex. Likewise, homosexuals and heterosexuals are both endowed with dignity and worth; however, their gender differences mean their sexual relationships are not interchangeable. Gay sex lacks the diversity and complementarity of a man and woman in marriage and cannot create new life.

Gay marriage activists ask us to be gender-blind. For most folks, there is no time when gender matters more than when it comes to marriage, sex, and having children. Even homosexuals, by definition, prefer one gender to another; thus they are not gender-blind. Bisexuals are arguably the most gender-blind among us; and surely they would agree there is no such thing as a pregnant father. Biology is not gender-blind.

Activists say homosexuals deserve equal treatment in marriage laws. Yes, this is exactly how they are currently treated. Homosexual individuals already have the right to marry—the marriage license doesn’t even ask about sexual orientation.

Legislators and law experts have stressed that even if Vermont passed gay marriage, gays would not gain any more legal benefits than they currently receive via civil unions. (See www.vtmarriage-.org.) However, passing gay marriage will have a tremendous impact on parental, property, and religious rights. Most of all, this social experiment will affect everybody’s children.

Legalizing gay marriage claims that gay sex is so beneficial to society that it must be protected by law and taught to children. Schools will need to restructure health classes to be inclusive and cover gay and lesbian sex. Do Vermonters want teachers to devote equal time explaining how babies are made and how gays have sex? Who decides which homosexual acts we teach to students and when? Is ninth grade the most age-appropriate time to explain to kids the mechanics of how gay men have sex together? Is it healthy? If adults are uncomfortable broaching this topic, imagine how kids feel when they are unable to opt out of their schools’ homosexual classes as in California, Massachusetts, and Spain.

When the moral views of a minority are imposed on the majority, you get a legal mess, as in California, where a handful of judges approved gay marriage, then a majority of people voted against it. Our gay friends and neighbors deserve better than a legal quagmire like California’s.

Gay marriage activists argue that civil unions are “separate” from marriage. Yes, they are different precisely because homosexual sex is physically, biologically, and socially different from heterosexual sex. Gay sex rejects the diversity of gender and the reality of biology. To claim that two men are the equivalent of a man and woman says that either children are unimportant, or that mothers are.

If the Vermont legislature gives special rights to gays, this will set a precedent to redefine marriage yet again in order to accommodate those oriented to bisexuality or to polygamy; the latter is currently being advocated in Canada. After all, once you change the gender of marriage, why not change the number?

Our gay friends and relatives contribute much to our society. The Vermont legislature can work on providing affordable homes, a clean environment, and a prosperous economy for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike. As for marriage rights, gays are free to choose marriage, or a civil union, or single life. The choice is already theirs. But they don’t have the right to redefine marriage for everybody.

This issue is all about children: how we create them; what we teach them about the beauty of gender and sex; how we protect their precious sexual innocence. As we take Vermont forward we must always keep in mind that the future is not just ours; it also belongs to our children.

Please call your legislators and ask them to vote in favor of children. For their sake, let’s support marriage, not redefine it.

Kelly Bartlett is the mother of four children and lives in northwestern, VT.