Apparently, the issue of civil rights is not over. I
thought we were past the point where we still needed to discuss the basic
rights and liberties of all citizens of the United States of America. In
my home state of Minnesota, there is a vote on November 6th to add an
amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that would ban gay marriage. So
much for Minnesota nice, eh?
I guess it’s not enough that the GLBTQ (which stands for Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning for those that were trying to sound it
out) community has fewer rights than the rest of the population, but now
Minnesota is looking to make any formal declaration of love and commitment by
GLBTQ couples illegal. How is this fair? How is this
constitutional? How is this equality? The short answer is; it’s
not. But what do I know? I only see the GLBTQ community as people
that deserve the same rights and freedoms as everyone else. I know,
that’s a crazy thought.
Why can’t marriage be two people in love who want to be formally recognized by
the state that they are in a committed relationship? Is that so hard to
grant? Why can we not just recognize love for love? Any couple, and
I mean any couple, should be able to have their commitment to each other be recognized
by the state. Besides, there is not a whole lot that goes into being
legally recognized as a married couple. It’s a sheet of paper that you
sign! My wife and I did that, nothing really magical about it. My
brother and sister in law watched us sign it, and then the officiate took it
away to the county clerk. Wow…that is a sacred ceremony. Let’s not
let any GLBTQ couple experience that secret signing that we heterosexual
couples so fondly remember.
Love is simply an intangible feeling. Try and describe it to some one you
know. Actually, try and describe it to yourself. It’s tough!
Know why? It’s an emotional response to another person to which you have
a deep connection with. Or put another way, love is a series of
electrical impulses that travel through the neurons in your brain caused by the
recognition of an outside stimuli that elicits an emotional response, i.e.
another person…or chocolate cake.
Everyone experiences love differently because we all have different
relationships. I love my brother in a different way than my wife.
Same label of love, but different feeling towards each person. Plus, it
would be awkward if I showed my affection for my brother in the form of a back
rub, and my affection toward my wife in the form of the double bump bro-hug.
To say that you do not want to recognize love between two people is to say that
they don’t exist. That they’re less than human. To tell a couple
that their love is wrong because they are the same sex is borderline
stupid. No, wait. It is stupid. It’s borderline
discrimination. Oh, wait again. It is discrimination! Has
anyone read the Constitution? Bill of Rights? Anyone!
So we sit here and debate whether GLBTQ couples should have the right to get
married. Why are we debating? Its civil rights pure and
simple. Every person regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation,
religious affiliation, socioeconomic status, athletic ability, cooking prowess
and any other category you can come up with are entitled to equal treatment
under the Bill of Rights. Done. Discussion over!
But it’s not. The discussion rages because of political pressure and
religious beliefs. As of now, Minnesota law bans gay marriage, but the
law can be challenged in the court system. But Republicans now have
control of the Minnesota Congress and Senate. By putting the ban on gay
marriage to a vote as a constitutional amendment rather than making it a bill
passed in the legislature, Republicans avoid a veto from the governor and also
side step the courts from deciding the issue. Sometimes politicians are
much smarter than we give them credit for.
A major voting bloc of the Republican Party is conservative Christians.
This group is a small group, but very vocal and they carry a lot of weight,
especially in Minnesota. See examples of Rick Santorum winning the
Republican Primary and Michelle Bachmann getting elected (More on her in the
future. She’s earned her own article). What they say, Republicans
are only too happy to oblige. In this case, homosexuality is a sin
against God, and therefore immoral, which makes the GLBTQ community less than
human in their eyes. How Christian of you.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel though. Recently, 700
Minneapolis-area Lutherans representing several congregations from the
Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to
oppose the gay marriage ban amendment. What I love about this is that
it’s Christians practicing what they preach; acceptance, loving your neighbor,
and basic civil rights. This small act by 700 individuals made me proud
to be a Minnesotan because it showed me that there are still rational,
compassionate people who actually care about true civil equality for all
people.
This is not to say that I am confident that the amendment will fail. On
the contrary, I am concerned that this amendment will pass. In a poll
conducted in November 2011, the results were split with 48% supporting the amendment
and 43% opposing it. With the margin of error of 4.4% taken into account,
this is an issue that is split down the middle. But when people get in
that voting booth, they will have only themselves to answer to, not a
pollster. And people are much more apt to show their true beliefs when
they are alone, then when they are asked by a stranger what they think about an
issue.
The only thing I can say is that Minnesotans come to their
senses and realize that this is a discriminatory amendment towards a group of
people that are our neighbors, co-workers, friends, family and citizens of the
United States. They aren’t monsters trying to destroy the sacred vows of
marriage. Marriage is not some sacred pact reserved for heterosexual
couples. If it were, the divorce rate would be zero, not over 50%.
Tell me that marriage is sacred and defend that little statistic.
Please! I beg you! I have yet to hear a good argument. And
God does not count as an argument!
GLBTQ couples simply want their
commitment to each other recognized by the state, and the GLBTQ community wants
to enjoy the same rights as every other citizen of this great country gets to
experience on a daily basis. That’s a pretty reasonable request. We
also need to keep church and state separate, and if the only argument for the
amendment is that it is immoral in the eyes of God, or that homosexuality is a
sin, then the argument has no basis because it is from a religious stand point
and has no rational besides that. Take the religion aspect out and the
proposed amendment banning gay marriage is simply anti-equality, anti-civil
rights, and just plain anti-common sense.
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