"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

This is one of the commandments written by the tyrannical pigs in George Orwell's novel Animal Farm, a satire on the Russian Revolution, which has farm animals oust the humans from the farm, only to be oppressed just as badly by the pigs. The irony in the commandment is blatant, and, unfortunately, is all too real today in our society.

Recently premier Klein declared that his government will oppose gay marriage to the extent of invoking the notwithstanding clause. This is not the first time in the last year he has made this threat. We have always known that this province is at the end of the line in terms of progressive social issues in industrialized nations, but it's getting ridiculous seeing Klein run around yelling "I'll get a notwithstanding on you!" everyone time someone says "I'm gay and human."

What is the problem with gay marriage? Nothing, according to possible future legislation. Our government is considering creating "registered domestic partnership" laws to allow "a same-sex couple to register and create obligations which are presently not provided under existing legislation," according to Justice Minister Jon Havelock. So while Klein says that the "moral compass says no, that people of the same sex ought not to be married," we are looking into legislation to allow them to have sanctioned relationships with all the legal qualities of a marriage. That's fine, according to the Albertan "moral compass", as long as they aren't "married,". I guess gays can pilot four-wheeled land vehicles and sleep in four-walled centrally heated structures, as long as they don't drive "cars" or live in "houses".

Other legislation on gay rights holds that schools should not mention homosexuality in sex education courses (but each school board can decide for itself) and offers no support for gays to adopt children, unless it's in the best interest of the child. So, can non-gay people adopt, even if it isn't in the best interest of the child?

To our credit, we are working on laws for employee benefits and same-sex couple benefits, and a recent headline reports that a "Poll suggests Albertans are becoming more tolerant." But Albertans are also saying "I feel God intended man to be married to a woman and vice versa." That whole God excuse is getting really, really old, and fewer and fewer people are buying it these days.

But what is alarming on an even deeper level is that people are saying things like "Gay people should be able to do whatever they want but they shouldn't be able to come back and have the same rights as people of the opposite sex." Not only is that fascist, but it makes absolutely no sense. It's like saying "Gays can do what they want, as long as they do as they're told," or "I have no problem with gays, it's just that I have a problem with gays." And who is "people of the opposite sex" to someone is gay? I'm not making this up. People are actually saying this, and it reflects the commandments in Animal Farm.

The point here is that "gay" means as much as "Black" or "Jew". Everyone is made of carbon and water. If we really did leave feudalism behind, let's act like it. Sure, a same-sex couple risks raising a child "differently" than a heterosexual couple. A Hindu couple risks raising a child differently than a Christian couple, too, and what is scary is, they're allowed to do it!

Everyone knows there's a lot of children with no families waiting to be adopted. So is it better to leave them lonely forever than to turn them over to two loving members of society just because they're both women? How about if we say that only one of the women is the mother, and the other is an "aunt", "assistant mother", "room-mate", or "godmother", and then give them the same legal benefits as any other family? As long as we don't call them a "family" in public, then we'll be okay.

I’m very close to someone who was raised entirely by women, in a single-mom family whose grandfathers died early, and who is perfectly fine. People should stop wasting time and money bickering about the "moral compass" and just practice what they preach: equality. This society needs less God and more love.