Ethics: Should Gays Have Marriage Rights?

Long-term homosexual lovers in New York State, thanks to regulations issued by Governor Mario Cuomo's housing commissioner last week, now have the same right as surviving spouses to take over rent-stabilized apartments upon the death of their partners. In San Francisco voters last Tuesday narrowly rejected -- after vocal opposition from the city's archbishop and other religious leaders -- a proposal entitling gay couples to register their relationships with the county clerk. In Washington and Los Angeles, task forces have been set up to investigate whether denying gay couples the benefits enjoyed by married people is a form of discrimination. It...