Choosing the lesser evil.

When that special Tuesday in November rolls around every four years, it seems we're always forced to choose the lesser of two evils. Bush-Dukakis, Bush-Clinton. Dole-Clinton, Bush-Gore, and now Bush-Kerry. No champions of the human spirit, not a single man or woman who has seen the light and leaped for it.

What light, you ask? How about the chance to become the next Abraham Lincoln, to go down in history as the person who, regardless of personal beliefs, finally stomped on the status quo and gave gay people their rights as Americans.

I don't want a "separate but equal" status when I begin my adult life. I want to marry someone I am attracted to, have children, and not have to pay extra taxes to a government that gives me fewer rights. But my future is being debated by politicians and candidates who are out of touch with me, my lifestyle, and my perspective.

We don't live in a democracy--we live in a republic. I agree it doesn't make sense to have a nationwide vote every time a question is asked, but when we're throwing around topics like war, civil rights, or freedom of speech, there should be such a vote.

And, thankfully, there is. It comes every four years on a Tuesday in November. It is our one opportunity to get what we want, a chance for the smallest whisper of young gay people to be heard and influence the direction of the nation. John Kerry might not be a poster boy for gay rights, but in this choice of two evils he isn't the one trying to set us back 100 years in the fight for equality.