I am writing in response to the Wednesday column by Vijay Ramanavarapu titled “Gay America doomed.” While his satire does a good job to mock the conservative viewpoint of gay marriage, I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge what gay and lesbian Americans are fighting for as they argue in courts and in the public sphere for the right to “marry.”

We are not asking for churches to throw their doors open. In fact, this isn’t about religion at all. While the religious right might think America is starting to crumble, this is what we are based on. The tradition in this country has been to pass laws to safeguard the American people and to expand laws where they leave citizens unprotected, as was done for voting rights and workplace protections.

We have also established the tradition to abandon discriminatory laws, even if they are popular – as were bans on interracial marriage and Jim Crow laws segregating the races in everyday life.

As a member of the lesbian and gay community, I can say we are still second-class citizens. And what we are fighting for is not to stand up in a church and say our vows (something beyond our government’s control), but to receive the 1,049 protections, benefits and responsibilities extended to married couples under federal law, a number cited in 1997 by the General Accounting Office.

Gay and lesbian couples in lifelong relationships pay higher taxes and are denied basic protections under the law. They receive no Social Security survivor benefits upon the death of a partner, despite paying payroll taxes. They must pay federal income taxes on their employer’s contributions toward their domestic partner’s health insurance, while married employees do not have to pay such taxes for their spouses.

They must pay all estate taxes when a partner dies. They often pay significant tax penalties when they inherit a 401(k) from their partner.

Gays and lesbians are as able and competent as the heterosexual majority to build strong families, yet we are not able to visit a spouse or child in the hospital and, when necessary, make medical decisions on his or her behalf. I might be one of those pesky liberals, but my screaming about injustice isn’t about to stop.

Elizabeth DaleStudent at Ohio Wesleyan University