[Update 6/28/04: I've changed the title to "same sex marriage" because it has come to my attention that the debate isn't about homosexual marriage - they can get married just like anyone else. It's about whether two people of the same sex can get married.]
Well, I’m liking my American Government class. It’s the first class where there are actually differing opinions on the topics being talked about. It’s almost fun. The prof. is pretty good too. So far he’s abstained from taking any sides – he does a good job of being neutral. Kudos to him.
Today we were discussing an article in the News and Observer that suggested we privatize marriage. I honestly didn’t know if the article was satire or not. It was really off the wall. Anyways, we got into a discussion about homosexual “marriage” and the ramifications and issues surrounding it. I held my own with my opinion. Towards the end of our discussion Dr. Graham asked, “if it were proven that homosexuals were born that way, would it change the debate?” He then went on to say that if that were proven to be true then the debate about gay marriage would be somewhat likened to the civil rights struggles of the black community during the 60’s and 70’s. While it was an honest attempt, I have to say, “Dr. Graham, you are wrong.” I will explain why.
For the sake of this argument we’re assuming that “gay” people are born that way. That’s highly debatable, but for the sake of the argument lets assume it’s true. A few years back interracial marriages were prohibited by law. So are gay marriages. During the 60’s and 70’s black folks made a huge effort to achieve civil liberties like the white folks – the ability to live in America just like a white person.
Everything was segregated – schools, restaurants, city busses, water fountains, movie theatres. Brown vs. Board of Education ended that segregation, stating that segregation, even if equal, was inherently discriminatory. Along the same time interracial marriage was made legal. Black persons were considered human again.
Now, in the early 21st Century there’s the homosexual folks, and they want their “rights.” They say that for the Government to prohibit them from “marrying” is discrimination – bigotry based on a birth trait. They are born this way and the Government is prohibiting them from marrying like every other free citizen. “The new black generation.”
But, that’s where they are wrong. The rights that black folks marched for in the 60’s and 70’s the gay folks have. Homosexuals can use the public library, they can drink from the same water fountain, sit anywhere in a theatre, vote, hold a job, go to school. In a word, they have the same rights as everyone else.
“Now wait a minute,” you say, “they can’t marry like the straight folks. They can’t have a loving sodomitical relation with their partner. They don’t have equal rights.”
While I take issue with calling homosexual relationships “loving,” that’s not the argument. The point is that antisodomy laws legislate against everyone. Gay, straight, married or unmarried. “Gay Marriage” is prohibited across the board – black, white, Latino, Asian. We’re not saying Gay people can’t get married, nor are we saying gay folks can’t have sex with each other. We’re saying people of the same sex can’t get married nor can you sodomize someone.
While the blacks were marching for equal rights, the gays are marching to get Government approval of their sex life. Sex isn’t a right. It’s a privilege.
I don’t care if you were born gay or made gay. Either way, it doesn’t make it your right to sodomize your partner or get married to someone of the same gender. What does it give you the right to do? It gives you the right to live, work, vote, go to school, and have liberty (not license) just like everybody else born here.