‘Dear Abby’ speaks out for gay marriage.

Next week, when she accepts the first-ever “Straight for Equality” award from Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, author Jeanne Phillips, who writes the nationally syndicated “Dear Abby” column started by her mother, will publicly declare her support for gay marriage. “I believe if two people want to commit to each other, God bless ‘em,” Phillips told the AP. “That is the highest form of commitment, for heaven’s sake.” Phillips “Dear Abby” column appears in about 1,400 newspapers.