"You can put out my fire...Let me hold your hose...Pull out your hose..." -Firefighter testimony in sexual harassment lawsuit against the City of San Diego

Outrage! What is going on in the San Diego gay community lately? Is it the eight years of the George Bush administration? Are the gains toward social legitimacy and legal marriage responsible? Where is the pride? The aforementioned taunts lobbed at four San Diego Firefighters during the Gay and Lesbian Pride are despicable. An utter embarrassment to the generations of brilliant gay comedians who came before these hecklers who dare not speak their name.  The flurry of green carnation petals you see flying these days are a direct result of Oscar Wilde spinning madly in his grave.

These lame "hose" jokes were pulled from the bottom of the cliché bin; the sort of fireman jokes you might expect from rural Pennsylvanians taking a time out from guns and bitter religion.  If we can no longer count on members of the gay community to come up with side-splitting, society skewering, keen edged barbs at just the right moment... then the world is truly becoming unrecognizable. Next, I suppose there will be a black President.

Firemen who wilt, wince and blubber at Will and Grace or Three's Company caliber gay jokes are one thing - but I for one refuse to stand for a city which cannot properly heckle its beefcakey civil servants. The recent mistrial verdict should not be read as a victory for San Diego's gay community. You know you have problems when Mike Aguirre rushes to your defense.  Never mind those Playboys the fellas back at Firehouse No. 5 had sitting around.  Never mind the long standing tradition of firemen posing in hunky calendars for charity (the Carlsbad crew).

I suspect the tears these firemen purportedly shed after the parade were less of shame than they were of sorrow.  Is gay comedy dead?  Have firemen become super sensitive? Has this equality thing gone so far that now straight and gay people are equally funny? Or maybe it's time for me to confront a longstanding prejudice.

To answer Nicole's question, yes, I support marriage equality and the California Supreme Court's May 15 decision on the issue. Jumping to the chase, I'm very supportive because they directly led to my ability on June 18 to create a union recognized by the state of California with the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.

My opinion on the issue comes after many years of personal observation and reflection, and was not a direct or easy path. After too many years of dealing professionally with the failures of marriage, first in my security work for the State Department and later working on family law issues as an attorney, I honestly wondered why anyone would want to participate in the archaic institution. 

Starting in law school though, for the first time I thought about the philosophy and history of marriage. I would still question marriage in the Anglo tradition: the concepts of a wife giving a unilateral promise of obedience to her husband, and fathers giving their daughters away as though they were property is insulting and degrading. I did come to appreciate the history and philosophical approach behind community property though, an approach to marriage dating back to ancient Spanish law.

The philosophy is easily shown by looking at the 15th century marriage of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, a union the resulted in the unification of Spain as one county under their grandson: marriage is a union of two equals who have decided to share everything forever. In my mind this was the correct approach to marriage and how I wanted to spend my life - part of a union based on mutual respect and equal standing.

I'm a freak. I admit it. For starters, I'm a Republican. I was a virgin when I got married at age 24. I've never touched alcohol or cigarettes in my entire life. I don't swear. I even drive the speed limit (well, most of the time). See, I told you, I'm a freak. At least compared to the world's standards.

I'm also a Christian who had a gay man and a lesbian as two of my bridesmaids at my wedding. No, I didn't make my gay friend wear a bridesmaid's dress. They were two of my dearest friends and I wanted them to be a part of my special day.

I have quite a few gay and lesbian friends who are celebrating California's court ruling allowing them to legally marry. I'm happy for them. I'm thrilled they have found love and that they want to commit themselves and their life to another person. Love is a beautiful thing, BUT. 

Yes, there's a BUT.  At the same time, I also think that legalizing same-sex marriage is going to take us down a slippery slope for several reasons. While California has been celebrating and everyone on this blog has been blissfully applauding homosexual nuptials, I feel like I'm going to rain on everyone's rainbow parade if I say anything but congratulations. There are several concerns I'd like to bring up in order to play Devil's Advocate... or maybe in this case, Heaven's Advocate.