The New York Times published a brief article about the Defense of Marriage Act which was passed in 1996. The law says the States do not have to give equal privileges to same sex couples, even if they married in a state that marriage is legal. President Obama is asking for Congress to repeal this law.
How can one determine if a law is a violation of human rights? What does human rights mean, and is Prop 8 of California a violation of a person’s basic human rights? Right now the State of California needs to answer this question in order for Proposition 8 to be overturned.
The California State Supreme Court has heard arguments in the case of Gay Marriage for both sides and decided to not over turn this new law, but decided to not overturn over 18000 marriages performed in the state.
But those who support Gay Marriage are not yet silenced by this ruling. In fact, they hold strong to their convictions and are still pushing for a new vote on the issue which could overturn the previous vote.
Those that claim the debate is not a religious one are not paying attention to the current debates going on in our nation. Pageant contestant Carrie Prejean has been in the spot light, and has been, since her infamous comments at the Miss USA Pageant regarding her view on Gay Marriage. She has stated that God did not intend for a man to marry another man, that it goes against her beliefs as a Christian to support Gay Marriage. That is obviously a religion perspective on the issue.
I made this argument before, and I make it again. The value we place on this word “marriage” is far too powerful. Homosexuality is not something new to the 21st Century, but Americans continue to behave as if it is. The topic of Gay Marriage is dear to many people for very different reasons depending on which side of the isle they stand on. This topic is very sensitive to so many people.
Take a moment and look at the side of why Gay Marriage is so important. The US has actually been moving in a direction of restricting same sex couples as even being couples. They don’t have the simple right to visit their loved one if the other is sick in a hospital. The hospital has the right to say no.
The US sees itself as a progressive society, we have been moving away from creating law the restrict other people. Specifically, segregation. The idea of separate, but equal was done away with because people opened their eyes and realized that it was not equal. Whites, at that time, did not look as African Americans as equal citizens, and in many states and countries they still don’t. But the heart of Brown v. Board of Education was to try and create a society were we enrich each other and learn together so everyone can have the same basic rights.
We are obviously still working on equality, not only with African Americans, but now we have brought a new group of people into the mix. The idea of a Civil Union vs. Marriage is basically like the “separate, but equal” issue during the civil rights movement. Its completely separate and not at all equal.
Many argue that marriage was intended for procreation, which is why they are against Gay Marriage. But marriage of the 21st Century is no longer about procreation, many couples chose not to marry, but have children, or people chose to marry and never have children. Should those people not be allowed to get married because their union contradicts the definition of marriage?
People don’t always think about the history of marriage, but not long ago, and this still continues in many countries, people were not allowed to chose their partners. Their marriages were arranged. Love was never a part of their decision process, purely the likelihood of making children. But today, we have choice now in who we can marry, and we have choice in whether we want to stay married to that person.
Laws are supposed to be created to protect people, not exclude them. Who are we protecting when society says two people who love each other can’t get married, that Gay Marriage should be illegal? Who are we protecting when we say they can have civil unions vs. marriage? Why?
