Though I am happily heterosexual, I cannot stand by and watch the injustices taking place in California. Simply, I am deeply saddened by the passing of Proposition Eight and other anti-gay marriage amendments passed in Arizona and Florida. As a heterosexual, I do not feel that it is my right to impose my preferences on people who don’t share those preferences with me.
Restricting who can marry whom goes against the ideals upon which this country was founded. America was made to be a safe haven for those who didn’t agree with the tyrannical, “God-chosen” monarchs who ruled Europe. America was to be a place of religious freedom, where people were free to be Puritan instead of Anglican, and to make a country that their God would be proud of.
So, when the Constitution was ratified, the first ten amendments were already in place guaranteeing liberty and equality. No man was to be persecuted for his choices in religion or speech. But now we Americans are persecuting people for whom they choose to marry. It is acceptable to allow people to own guns, which caused 29,573 deaths in America in 2001 according to the United States Bureau of Statistics. When has a homosexual marriage killed anyone? Who have they injured?
One reason people argue against gay marriage is a fear for the moral upbringing of any child brought into that home. They feel that two loving people who happen to be homosexual will raise a depraved pedophile. I concede that one’s home environment as a child is important for development, but think of all the straight manly-men raised by women. Though we are in an enlightened age, boys still are primarily raised by their mothers throughout their childhood, and women dominate grade school education. This does not make them feminine or homosexual. I would also argue that it is better for a child to be brought up by two loving homosexuals than by two divorced homo- or heterosexuals, since divorce is extremely traumatic for children. Finally, the United States has a surplus of children waiting to be adopted. It would be better to allow homosexual couples to adopt children to give some stability to these children’s lives instead of being bounced around foster care.
Another point I feel that is it imperative to mention is the fact that there would be no legal changes to heterosexual marriage. Allowing gay marriage doesn’t change straight marriage. It won’t affect the mutual decision by a man and a woman to engage in a spiritual and legal bond. Instead, it will allow all people the same rights to this spiritual and legal bond. The current laws are as cruel as race-discrimination laws in the South, which were deemed unconstitutional and overturned.
It is not the government’s job to be a moral watchdog or restrict American citizens’ rights. If homosexual marriage were allowed, it would not outlaw heterosexual marriage, change the meaning of that marriage, or even ostracize those who partake in heterosexual marriage. I am not arguing for gay marriage because I want to “corrupt the sanctity of marriage.” All I want is the justice and equality promised to all Americans allowed in the marriage system. I want America to live up to the ideals upon which she was founded.
Samantha Cornelius is a sophomore political science and French double major. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].
