Are there any "straight" institutions-besides the obvious: marriage, military, adoption-that gay men and women don't want full and unfettered access to? I can't speak for everyone, but gay or straight or in between, I'm not a big fan of marriage in general. Too confining. But it's nothing compared to the military, of course. In high school I had to wear a uniform, which solidly reinforced my distaste for most things regimented. Worse still, it burned the nomenclature of the M-16 in my brain-an almost daily required recitation that I've been unable to shake loose from my skull-like the verse of some nagging song-for decades. Adoption? In theory, I'm not against it, but if you think marriage and the military can be restrictive, there's nothing quite like being tethered to a human being who depends so fully upon you.

So, for myself at least, I have no interest in being institutionalized. And people wonder why I'm single.