Mantrimony
The issue of gay marriage has been a
controversial one for a number of years, but the
ruling earlier this week by the Supreme Judicial
Court of Massachusetts brought the issue back into
the spotlight. The high court overturned a ban on
gay marriages passed by the state legislature,
ruling that gay couples were legally entitled to
wed under the state constitution. That has, of
course, renewed a spate of denunciations and
vociferous opinions from those opposed to gay
marriages, gay men and, probably, gaiety
itself.
The arguments are all the same. Homosexuality is
"wrong." Gays want "special treatment." Making gay
marriage legal will undermine the moral fiber of
our country. I consider myself a conservative, and
most of the time find myself in agreement with much
of what commentators like Bill O'Reilly and David
Horowitz have to say. But on this issue, I couldn't
be further from the right. The arguments hold no
water. In fact, I contend that anyone who does not
favor gay marriage or thinks that homosexuality is
wrong has never known a gay person. I've never met
a gay person I haven't liked, a claim I could never
make about the countless heterosexuals I've known
in my life.
I think it boils down to fear. Many people fear
what they don't understand, and for many of such
people, homosexuality is about as far from being
understandable as possible. All they know of
homosexuality is news footage of flamboyant gays
parading in the city streets during pride parades,
controversial photos of obnoxious gays making out
in public, militant gays marching in protest. But
to judge the large demographic by such displays
would be the same as passing judgment on all
heterosexuals based on drunken bikers marching in a
Hell's Angels parade, stoned hippies having public
sex at a rock concert or anti-abortion activists
screaming outside free clinics. Every gay person
I've ever met has been kind, professional and
well-balanced—in a word, "normal." What's
more, they've had bushels more taste and class than
many heterosexuals I've known.
Gay marriage is not about getting special
recognition or treatment. Though some may want to
make some kind of political or social statement,
the vast majority of gays just want to have the
same rights and privileges as heterosexual married
couples. Many private companies already recognize
this, and offer the same health and other benefits
to "domestic partners" of employees as they do to
married spouses (the Walt Disney Company, my former
employer, is just one example). It's time to move
past Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's "3,000
years of recorded history" and recognize that
homosexual union has been around for well over
3,000 years of unrecorded history.
Affording gays the dignity and respect enjoyed
by heterosexual couples will not bring about the
decline and fall of the United States of America.
Like legalizing interracial marriages (which were
just as fiercely opposed), it will make America
that much more compassionate and civilized.
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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