Separate but Equal not solution for gay unions  There has been a
lot of furor and debate recently over the question of gay
marriage, and the topic seems poised to become a crucial
election-year issue. Respondents to polls about their views on
this subject tend to fall into three camps: There are the so-
called “extremists” who demand gay marriage, with the same
rights, privileges and terminology accorded to homosexual
couples as are currently granted heterosexual ones. On the other
side of the debate stands a second group of extremists. They not
only oppose gay marriage, but are also against any sort of civil
union between homosexual couples, even though such a union would
allow gay couples to affirm their commitment to each other, take
care of each other in times of illness, and would offer them
those tax incentives by which our society rewards stable,
committed partners. Although this primarily conservative group
often trumpets the moral value of commitment and stability in
heterosexual couples, it is noneth