I’ve been in favor of same-sex marriage since I was 10 years old. I remember very specifically where I was and what I was doing when I made that decision.
I was headed home from school after a day focused on the 2000 Presidential Election and the issues facing the nation in the Fall of 2000.
For those of you with knowledge of Dallas, you will appreciate that I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic in the Oak Lawn neighborhood at the time I made this decision.
The decision itself wasn’t a change of heart after hearing impassioned arguments in favor or opposed to same-sex marriage but rather a realization for the first time in my life that marriage was restricted to just mixed-sex couples.
At 10 years old I couldn’t understand why such discrimination existed in the greatest country in the world. Eleven years later, I still can’t.
Marriage is a universally accepted human right. The United States was a key author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and we pledge to follow the UDHR in all our domestic dealings. Nevertheless the right to marriage in the United States isn’t universal, and will never be until we act to legalize same-sex marriage at a national level.
Leaving marriage up to the states has been the de facto policy for the past two decades. A nationalized approach is needed to protect the recognition of the legal contract that constitutes marriage.
The Defense of Marriage Act recognizes marriage at the federal level as a union between a man and a woman. It does not require states to accept same-sex marriages from other states.
It is slowly being stricken down in court, with 2010 being the watershed year with a ruling finding that DOMA violates the 5th and 10th Amendments to the Constitution as well as the Due Process Clause.
Because DOMA is at the federal level, any serious attempt to legalize same-sex marriage for all Americans must also be at that level to ensure states with opposing views won’t battle over recognizing marriages in other states.
While many will argue that marriage is a religious event, historically it has its roots in a civil agreement. Due to separation of church and state, the current laws regarding marriage can only take into consideration the civil contract associated with marriage.
As such, any religious arguments against same-sex marriage are solely for religious institutions’ decisions to not conduct same-sex marriages, but cannot be considered in the national debate over same-sex marriage.
As a civil contract, marriage guarantees couples certain legal and economic rights that non-married couples do not have, including financial benefits, joint ownership, medical decisions and joint adoption rights. These marriage benefits should be available to all committed couples who wish to participate in marriage.
Marriage is good for society because it forms cohesive bonds between people, and prepares them for greater participation within a larger community. The discrimination against members of the LGBT community from forming these legal bonds is bad for society as it is denying a minority group from full participation.
Some argue that legalizing same-sex marriage will allow LGBT couples to raise children which is undesirable for children. However studies have shown that same-sex couples are just as capable as heterosexual couples at raising children.
The biggest problem with homosexuals raising children today isn’t a lack of love and support but rather the legal problems the family faces due to a lack of protection under the law.
The people I know that were raised by same-sex couples personally testify that their parents did a fantastic job and they didn’t feel anything missing in their childhood. I can personally testify that same-sex couples make wonderful babysitters.
Marriage equality should be a no-brainer. At its core, it isn’t about what you want to do or how you feel personally, but rather letting others make their own personal decisions for themselves.
I understood that as a 10-year-old, and I hope others will quickly come to that realization too, because it is time to let the LBGT community join the family.
David de la Fuente is a junior sociology and political science major. He is the President of College Democrats. De la Fuente can be reached for questions or comments at [email protected].
