Some creative minds came up with a poster comparing NOM to the KKK. It's outrageous of course. We wouldn't normally bother to notice such stuff, which is par for the course, but even on the gay blogs circulating it a lot of fair minded people are questioning that kind of over the top rhetoric.

So we point out once again, for the fair minded on either side of this debate: When a man came to a NOM rally with a hateful sign, he was immediately told he wasn't welcome. This is why the photo of the hateful sign is not of a sign being held up at a NOM rally but a sign discarded across the street.

Just to make it crystal clear, we then issued a statement denouncing violence, harassment or threats of violence against any one on any side of the marriage debate, including against gay people and gay marriage supporters.

Which we are happy to reiterate again for our gay readers--we know we have many: We stand with you abhorring any threat to the person and property of gay people, or gay marriage supporters. We hope you do the same for marriage supporters.

But we do it because it's the right thing to do not because anyone demands this of us.

There are good people on both sides of this debate, and we need to have a country where even intense moral disagreements can be aired without violence or threats or incivility.