I am very saddened to learn that California voters have overturned Proposition 8. It baffles me that in an America that claims to be so rife with freedoms, people still want to dictate the ways in which others should lead their lives. The mantra of the religious right is that same-sex marriage poses a threat to the traditional American family. I cannot even begin to conceive of how this might be remotely the case. Gay people don’t go knocking on doors trying to recruit people to join their team. They don’t care that you’re straight. So why do you care that they’re gay? How, exactly, are they a threat to your family?
Some of this fear and hatred stems from the conservatives’ belief that gay couples should not be allowed to adopt children. In fact, they just passed a law in Arkansas banning them from doing so. This is absurd. If two competent people with a loving home and the financial means to raise a family want to adopt a child, they should be allowed to. There are plenty of heterosexual couples who are completely unfit to raise children, and our country’s high divorce and unwanted pregnancy rates result in countless “broken homes” and single-parent families. Children raised by same-sex couples are in no more physical or moral danger than those raised by straight couples. There are so many children who are desperate for a family. Why deny them a happy home, regardless of the shape it takes?
And to those who feel threatened by gay marriage even when children wouldn’t be involved in the union, I ask you, why? How is your marriage at all threatened because Bill and Bob next door tied the knot? I know the answer. It’s because of your religious beliefs and that fact that you enjoy thinking that the “morals” you’ve chosen make you a better person than a lot of other people, and you should obviously get to tell them what to do. The thing is, as I recall this country was created based on the desire for religious freedom. So why do think it’s okay to impose your beliefs on others? If the atheists starting trying to pass laws saying that you shouldn’t be allowed to go to church because it’s a threat to their non-belief system, wouldn’t you be appalled and fight back? This situation is no different.
There is a distinct line between crime and sin that religious people consistently fail to recognize. The Ten Commandments tell us not to kill each other, as does the American legal system. It is clearly both a sin and a crime. I believe that being gay is no more a choice than being born with blue eyes, but Christians (and others) believe it is a sin. That’s fine, as long as they keep that opinion to themselves. But they don’t, and they’re trying to make that perceived sin a crime. By that token, we should criminalize not going to church on Sunday, or getting mad at your parents, or merely being jealous.
Face it, folks. Your life wouldn’t change at all, not the slightest bit, if same-sex marriage were allowed in this country. What are you so afraid of? All they’re asking for are the same rights and protections that heterosexual couples so freely enjoy. So get off your homophobic high horse already and let everyone have the freedom you’re so fond of broadcasting on your bumper stickers and in your country music. “American” means a lot of things these days. Let’s prove to the world that it doesn’t mean prejudice.
