To love and to cherish... unnecessary wedding gifts

My sister is having a baby and is registered at Target for the baby shower. Rather than make the trip to my nearest Target store, then to a shipping facility, I can browse her registry in the comfort of my own home by visiting the website. I can even have the items shipped directly to her. It's pretty nifty and they've even got a bridal registry.

Being the snoop that I am, I typed in some random names and browsed some of the registries on that site. I was filled with a sense of excitement for these young couples, and that surprised me because I thought I was completely dead inside when it came to weddings and young love. But my feelings of excitement were quickly extinguished when I came upon the registry of Utah's Luke Allen and Julie Bennion.

While most couples request bedsheets and silverware, Allen and Bennion were tacky enough to include an electronic drum set and a Nintendo DS with a slew of games and accessories. I've included an actual screen shot from page one of the registry and you can check it out yourself by visiting Target's website and entering one of the happy couple's names into the registry search box.

Since when does a young couple need a Coral Pink Nintendo DS to help them get started with their new married life? How would you feel if you were laying on a beach in Costa Rica on your honeymoon and you ask your significant other what he or she thinks of the sunset, only to be ignored because he or she is too busy blasting aliens or rescuing the princess? It's kind of a mood-killer.

Target is one of the many places that does not allow two men to register together for gifts, but if gay men were allowed to do so, you can bet that they wouldn't do something as tasteless as request a portable video game system. We don't have the luxury of having our relationships regarded as valid as heterosexual couples and we sure as hell wouldn't expect our families and friends to shell out five hundred bucks for a 60 gigabyte Playstation 3 like Manuel Loya and Eliana Garcia did for their March 2008 wedding.

This is another reason why I'm not too thrilled about heterosexual marriage.