(Letter to state Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-12th District) Ihave been asked to write to you about your decision to vote "no" on the marriage equality vote. While I have no personal desire to marry now, I realize that I may in the future and would like that option. Moreover, I am aware of the many in our LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community who hinge their ideal of civil freedom on the ability to marry the one they choose to love.

I understand the religious implication of marriage for many Christians, but the duality of the word marriage imparts all the rights of marriage not fully given with civil unions. I believe your duty is to your constituents and how you view what their rights are. If we are all created equal, what then does set us apart? Religion? Socially accepted norms? I know it's hard to ask you to think in legal terms, but I believe you have to in order to arrive at a decision.

Personally, I have been involved with the repealing of the "don't ask don't tell" policy because to me, it's even more limiting to the rights of the LGBT community.

This law prevents me from defending my own country should I have a calling to serve in the armed forces, even if I am capable, because I am gay. If I were the only person who knew a rare dialect in a country that required my ability to communicate crucial information, I would still be dismissed if I was openly gay. In this case, I cannot protect the citizens of my own country because there is law preventing me from doing so.

If we don't assign the word marriage to civil unions, we cannot be taken seriously by our legal system, peers, friends and family. When my friends in Britain use the word husband, it's because they are married. It is the correct term for all legal transactions. It's not because they are trendy and like saying it. It represents protection that U.S. citizens, and more specifically N.J. citizens, do not have unless you make a change for us.

Sen. Beck, please be on the side of civil rights when you cast your vote. You can change history for so many N.J. citizens. I want to believe that when you wear the "Diversity" T-shirt, it's not because it suits you so well, it's because you believe in what it represents.

David J. Pascale

Red Bank