I'm not sure why the whole gay marriage issue isn't a bigger deal to me than it is. I think the biggest reason is that I don't see a need to change it. I'm pretty sure I've blogged about this before but from my understanding, most of what the gay community wants to have happen by allowing gay marriage could be accomplished by implementing better non-discrimination laws, revising processes & procedures in places such as medical facilities, and continuing to work towards a combination of better education and more open mindedness. I realize this won't solve everything but neither will forcing the American public to accept gay marriage when they don't want to. If I'm not mistaken, voters in California clearly said what they wanted and I don't see how going through these motions and making them accept otherwise is going to do any good for the gay community.
Here's hoping tomorrow is a little less gay.
:)
ReplyDeleteInteresting perspective . . . I think that it's unfortunate that this has to come down to the courts, especially since it gives those opposed to gay marriage an opportunity to complain about "judicial activism." At the same time however, I don't think things like this should be left up to majority opinion, otherwise the rights of minority groups will get trampled on.
ReplyDeleteProposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote. 47% of California voters voted against it. That's not a great example of California voters showing what they "clearly want." That aside, I'm consistently disturbed by people who claim that we should simply accept what the majority of voters want. If the will of the people was that Mormon marriage should be illegal, would we be ok with that?
ReplyDeleteYou are right in saying that most of what "the gay community" wants could be accomplished through other means, but why should that be necessary in a country where everyone is supposedly created equal? Why should a parent have to carry around a mound of legal documents proving their right to take care of their children, or to visit their dying spouse in a hospital? It just doesn't make any sense to make a mountain of extra laws to try and get around our own built in prejudices. At the end of the day, separate is not equal.
It's really as simple as the ninth circuit court put it, "Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for 'laws of this sort."
That may have been the political rhetoric a few years ago, but that's really not what the gay community wants at all. Everyone grows up wanting to get married. Everyone meets someone and thinks, "maybe we could end up married." Everyone's relatives ask them, "when are you going to get married?" That's what it's about. The rights are important, yes, but it's about being able to raise your lifelong relationship to a status of social respect and recognition. It's that some gay people finally got fed up with not being able to live with dignity and respect with regard to their families.
ReplyDeleteRead the decision. It's about exactly this.
Deactivating my facebook account has made my life so much better. It's hard to describe, other than it's extremely liberating.
ReplyDelete