A near-death experience. Would same-sex marriage have helped Lisa Craig, Debbie Riley, and their kids? In this morning's Boston Herald, reporter Jessica Heslam describes a horrifying Fourth of July attack in East Boston that nearly cost Craig her life.

You could plausibly argue that marriage would not impress the boneheads who preyed on this family. Still, by normalizing gay and lesbian relationships, society can send subtle messages about the way such relationships are perceived.

It's rare, after all, to hear of racist goons setting upon mixed-race couples anymore. So too could it be with gay and lesbian couples.