First Guest Blog -- Jason Boeckman, of Miami University, put this in the Miami Student (the inspiring Miami Student Article here)and I just loved it so much I had to repost.

I am one student voice. And you don’t have to agree with me. But all I ask, Miami, is that you please listen to me and hear me out.

Despite the rain, I stood at the steps of Cincinnati City Hall Saturday afternoon as part of a nationwide movement in protest of California’s Proposition 8. No doubt you’ve heard of it. Aside from the presidential contest, it became the highest-funded campaign on any ballot in our nation Nov. 4, the campaigns for and against the proposition raising a combined $73.4 million dollars. That’s a lot of money. Money that isn’t feeding our nation’s homeless and hungry, or supporting our schools, or combating crime like drug trafficking.

This must be pretty important, to neglect such extremely pressing social issues, you might ask? You bet this is important. Because what’s at the heart of all this is exactly that: the human heart. And for many Americans, the human heart is aching. And the human heart cannot believe, cannot understand: How could this have happened?

But the human heart is strong. And the human heart is taking action.

Students from Miami, Xavier University, University of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky University stood together in solidarity along with other Cincinnatians and Northern Kentuckians to speak out against marriage inequality and also the absence of federal legislation protecting gay and lesbian Americans from workplace discrimination and crime motivated by hate. Cincinnati’s turnout was one of the strongest in the nation. Margaret Cho even showed up.

At the protest, I began to realize how wrapped up in language a lot of this is. For instance, what’s all of this talk about “redefining” marriage? It’s time to clear the air. It is not a redefinition coupled gay and lesbian Americans are after, but, rather, an extension of this civil right to them. They want only to be included.

There should be marriage for gay and lesbian couples and here’s why: Domestic partnerships and civil unions just don’t cut it. Yes, in some states these are almost equivalent to marriage, but here is the problem (again, back to language): How likely are you to declare “I’m getting civilly unioned this week” in place of a simple statement like “I’m getting married this week”? Or how likely are you to say “I’d like to introduce you to my beautiful domestic partner” instead of saying “I’d like to introduce you to my beautiful wife/husband”?

Additionally, I’m not sure this phenomenon called “gay marriage” I’ve been hearing so much about really even exists? If it did, you would think I’d hear a whole lot more about “straight marriage.” I attended a high school friend’s wedding ceremony last month—the first wedding I had attended in 23 years, actually—and I’m almost positive my invitation didn’t read “You’re invited to the straight wedding of Ben and Heather Robertson.”

This all should sound pretty silly. And I’d like to think I even got a laugh or two.

But in all seriousness, a marriage is a marriage and that’s the message we were communicating last Saturday.

I’ll tell you what a marriage isn’t because that might help, too. As much as I wish Britney Spears well, her 55-hour Vegas marriage did nothing but disrespect the institution. What’s not a marriage can be found in the example of former Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer’s infidelity. And what’s definitely not a marriage is when gay and lesbian people enter sham marriages with a person of the opposite sex because of societal pressure to conform or feelings of expectation or obligation. I have the sneaking suspicion that if gay people were allowed to marry other gay people there’d be fewer spouses and children affected by divorce following comings out. I can only imagine how unhappy, guilty and desperate it’d make me to live a lie like that. But that’s the reality for some in our country. And it’s a reality we have the power to eliminate.

And nobody’s perfect. In fact, it’s been well documented that roughly half of all marriages in our country end in divorce, and for a variety of reasons. But people marry because the chance of failing is worth the possibility of succeeding. Don’t we all deserve that chance?

Gay people exist. We’ve graduated beyond pretending as a society that this isn’t so (see Obama’s acceptance speech, Nov. 4). And gay people fall in love. Gay people fall in love like any of us do and their love is just as legitimate. If our country is going to give those couples permission to explore that love, how can we not reward their commitment with marriage?

I haven’t met the one. But what if one day I should be so lucky and I meet him? I would hope that our country had come around by then in terms of marriage equality. But make no mistake. When I commit to that person, he will be my husband and I will be his.

Barry blogs regularly at QueerCincinnati.com, and can be contacted via email at queercincinnati@gmail.com or on Twitter