Last modified: Monday, July 10, 2006 8:38 AM EDT LETTER: Exclude no one from wonderful blessing To the editor: From my perspective at age 60, the present controversy over gay marriage doesn't sound like anything new. Recently I attended the marriage of two dear friends. One is white, the other, African-American. I thought about how people would have reacted to this in the 1950's, when I was growing up. I would hear back then how mixed-race marriages were `` unnatural.'' They were supposedly against the Bible, contrary to how things had always been, and a threat to `` normal'' marriages. There were even laws making such marriages illegal! Thankfully, the U.S. Supreme Court put an end to such nonsense in 1968. Now these same tired old assertions have been resurrected for same-sex marriage. Opponents say that gay marriages are some kind of threat to `` traditional'' marriages. As part of my work as a social service professional, I've asked dozens of people about their marriages since the SJC decision. How many have said that their marriage was affected by the marriages of gay couples? None! I think marriage is a wonderful blessing that should be available to everyone . It's that simple. Christine Robins, Foxboro