This is in response to and in praise of the excellent editorial piece by Brian Johnson, printed in your paper and also distributed on the Internet.

He mentions one of the favorite arguments against same-gender marriage; it ranks just below “Adam and Steve.” This is the feverish notion that in some inexplicable way standard marriage will be damaged, degraded, devalued.

This is, as I remarked, a favorite but so far no one has been able to tell me of any specific damage that will be done to their marriages, No one!

The institution that has found room for Michael Jackson and Richard Ramiriz will surely not be harmed if George and I are allowed to marry after 40 years of sharing and loving. I am a Korean veteran and we have both paid our taxes for 50 years now; we are, except for the fact that we love one another, ordinary to the point of boredom.

There is room in marriage for many colors. Here in Hawaii, where we have love and acceptance for a variety of people surprising to the mainland, there is room for us and there is a realization that admitting more folks to the family does not weaken it — in our rainbow there is strength.

Thank you.

Ward Stewart

Honolulu, Hawaii