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| Can you marry a person of the opposite sex if you're not in love? Yes. Can you marry a person of the opposite sex just for money? Yes. Can you marry a person you are in love with? Not if you're the same sex. The greatest despoilers of the "sanctity of marriage" aren't gay people at all. It's the straight people who wed for green cards, publicity, money and any other reason they want. It almost seems like gay people are the only demographic left who truly want to marry for the sake of love. |
The United States Supreme Court will be ruling on Prop 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act in just a few days.
We are on the threshold of history here. We'll all be able to say that we were alive when the nation abolished the act of refusing rights to everyone. We can say we witnessed the Supreme Court help win the latest battle in the war for civil rights, and we can truly say we are a country founded upon individual freedom and equal protection and treatment under the law.
Or we will we say we were alive when the nation decided that "All Men Are Created Equal" and "Pursuit of Happiness" only apply to one group of people.
Of course, I'm hoping (and even praying) for the former. It just makes the most sense. If you're a citizen of the United States of America, then you should have the ability to reap the same benefits any other American does. You should be allowed to make a million dollars if you're an innovative and creative genius. You should be allowed to worship whatever deity you believe in at the place of your choice in the manner you desire. You should be able to speak openly about your satisfaction or dissatisfaction about the way the government works. You should be allowed to vote. You should be able to have a family. And you should be able to marry the person you love.
But there's that group of people who are so hung up on marriage being a "sacred institution" that's already been defined between one man and one woman, and we shouldn't be allowed to amend that.
As I've argued before, marriage, like all things, is an evolutional process. The definition of marriage has changed many, many times. From the incestuous marriages of Adam and Eve's children, to the polygamous marriages that ran the entire length of the religious lexicon, the Bible is rife with different versions of marriage, and a lot of them are pretty unsavory.
And as I've also argued before, even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was willing to redefine marriage--twice. So the argument that marriage has already been defined and cannot be redefined or amended is a complete fallacy. The argument just doesn't hold up.
I think it's safe to say that there is no word, term or definition of anything that has been static since the beginning of time. Every word has more than one meaning. Go ahead. Think of a word. If you can think of a word that means only one thing and has meant what it means now since its inception, then make sure to share it in the comments section below.
Better yet, tweet it to me.
But the other argument the so-called traditional marriage fundamentalists rely heavily upon is the sanctity of marriage itself. First of all, never mind that it makes zero sense to deny someone else a right just because that someone wants to execute it in a different way you choose to. When we abolished race segregation, was the water any less we than it was when black people weren't allowed to drink from "whites only" fountains? No. It was the same water.
But let's get back to my accusation of hypocrisy.
I have yet to see a religious zealot call foul on all the straight people who respect their bowel movements more than they respect marriage.
Where were all the traditional marriage defenders when Kim Kardashian married Kris Humphries just for the publicity? How come I didn't hear a single peep from the people who consider marriage to be a sacred union when Britney Spears and Jason Trawick married for a whole 65 hours? Where's the uproar over the people who marry every day because of money or power? People who marry just to get citizenship? People who get married just because they happened to be super drunk that night?
When it comes to disrespecting a sacred institute, I think all of those qualify far more than two people who wish to marry because they are genuinely in love.
And I've yet to read an article or watch a newscast about a gay couple who wed because one of them was on his deathbed and promised the other $1 million dollars in his will. No, gay people want to be with the people they love, and they want the legal recognition and benefits everyone else gets. They're not in it for some ulterior motive.
Those benefits, by the way, are afforded to any straight couple who marries for any reason. Some straight couples get married strictly for the benefits alone. But that's not illegal in the eyes of the law, and for some reason, it's not immoral in the eyes of the people who think marriage is a hallowed establishment ordained by the lord.
It's hypocrisy. Pure and simple. I see none of the anti-marriage equality crowd picketing the people who don't take marriage seriously. I only see them spreading hate toward those of us who take the union between two people very seriously but are denied the right to marry.
And until I see the traditional marriage supporters actually practicing what they preach and demanding everyone treat marriage as a sacred institution, then I will be forced to judge them as just a bunch of homophobic bigots who are saying, "You can't have this! It's MINE!" like a greedy kindergartner would about a toy that's meant for the whole class; he thinks it should belong to him and him only.
You hypocritical hate mongers deserve such a bad review that I'm about to do something unprecedented. For your vitriol and closed-mindedness, I'm giving you a double five out of five Trash rating. Yup. 10 trashes, all for you and your hate-filled lives.
So if you're a Supreme Court Justice and you're reading this (which of course I know every Justice does), then please consider the fact that, out of all the people who truly want to get married, those of us who are denied the right are possibly the ones who want it most for the right reason: love.
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