Same-sex Marriage is now legal in 30 states, and in the last several years, we have seen not only an escalation in gay rights and gay marriage, but also a sea change of opinions about gay rights and marriage equality.
Marriage equality opponents, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom – the organization’s name defies what they actually do, which is to block freedom from certain groups of Americans, namely LGBT members – are losing their battle to keep marriage between only a man and a woman.
Personally, I live in a state, Oklahoma, which was affected by the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to listen to repeals from lower federal courts that had overturned state laws banning same-sex marriage.
Then of course, Governor Mary Fallon is having a tizzy over it all – oh my gosh, gays getting married in our state, eek! Her state government’s first response is to consider the possibility of banning all marriages in the state – I not kid you. That is because when gay people marry each other, it just destroys straight marriage somehow. Really, please, someone explain that to me where it makes sense, not nonsense as it does now, that the idea of two consenting adults who happen to be both of same sex, deciding to commit their lives together through marriage, will destroy marriage altogether. Of course, traditional marriage, now and before the first gay marriage in the nation, has been a real success; excuse the sarcasm.
Eventually, same-sex marriage will be legal nationwide, in all 50 states, no matter what those who oppose it wants or thinks. Just like every other civil rights issue, our nation has always moved forward, not backward, when it comes to respecting the rights of all, no matter what makes them different.
The question that comes to my mind when I listen to the determined and insistent voices from the right, who fight so hard to deny me and my gay brothers and sisters the right to marry the one we love: Why do they care who I marry? Why would I, by marrying the one I love, be a problem for straight marriages? I fail to see a connection, and perhaps, that is why so many federal judges have sided with marriage equality, when it comes to tearing down those same-sex marriage bans; they fail to see the connection also. Perhaps they cannot see the harm it does to the plaintiffs in this matter, and the so-called affected parties, are claiming injury or injury that has not occurred yet, have no case to claim.
It will be long after the fact, after same-sex marriage is well accepted by society, that history will show how wrong today’s same-sex marriage opponents were in their assessment of what gay marriage will do to the nation and the institution of marriage. I cannot see the negative impact they claim it will have, now or in the future. Gays will marry, and they will divorce, and they will fight and they will make up, just like straight marriages. Some will have children, either through natural childbirth or adoption, or have children from a previous marriage, etc, and some will choose not to have children. Everything that heterosexual couples go through today, gays will go through the same very thing.
The last 20 states will eventually succumb to marriage equality, and eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court will have to weigh in, and what are those justices going to do: reverse all the same-sex marriages that have already taken place? I cannot see that happening, no matter how much gay marriage opponents want it to happen. The devastation, not only on the couple but their families, especially their children.
You know what makes marriage equality so great for me. It is that I now know that when a young teen discovers they are gay, it will not be the end of the world for them, as it was for so many gays throughout history, including me. They no longer have to hide and pretend to be straight, not for their families or anyone else for that matter. They can now look forward in their lives to marriage, kids, and a happy life just like everyone else.
Same-sex marriage is not about the religious morals of anyone but those whose lives it actually affects, which is the couple who is getting married. They are the ones who must live with each other, wake up each morning with each other, and look at each others face day after day, week after week, month after month and eventually, year after year. As a single person who intends on staying single, that sounds entirely boring to me but hey, if that is what they want, who am I or anyone for that matter, to stop them.
Of course, the families of gay couples may be affected to some extent by a gay marriage, but that is a private matter for families to deal with. No religious morals of some preacher or some religious organization, or some senator or other politician in government who believe their own personal religious morals should be enforced by the law on all Americans, should have any say in what two consenting adults decide to do between them. Some families will be divided and then some families, thanks to a strong bond of love, will get over the rough bumps, and they will get past all the moral issues too. Love has a way to open eyes, at least those willing to open their eyes.
So maybe we should ask those who take the time out of their own happy lives, to put a stop to any possible happiness for gay couples: Why does it matter to you who I marry anyway? All I have to say to them is to concern themselves about their own marriages and their own lives and let me and my gay brothers and sisters, concern ourselves with ours.
This is a republish from my website: Fidlerten Place