Post by Calvin Constantine on Nov 22, 2008 20:38:47 GMT -6
Forty years after the harrowing battles and affirming lessons of the civil rights movement, the specter of legalized discrimination has returned to haunt our country.
On Election Day, a day on which we celebrated the historic elevation of an African American to the highest office in the land, several states voted for a return to legalized discrimination. Voters in Arkansas, California, and Florida formally voted to ban homosexuals from marrying. Social conservatives, whose victories have been few and far between of late, especially celebrated that California, the purported progressive paradise, led the homophobic charge.
Federal and state governments alike have become entangled in the institution of marriage, sanctioning bonds between individuals and extending legal benefits to married couples. Whether this is an appropriate arrangement is a debate for another time. What the numbers propositions ratified around the country over the past few years have done is limit the legal scope of marriage to one man and one woman.
This is illegal, immoral, and ridiculous.
The Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution, ratified in 1868 to protect newly freed African American slaves, guarantees all people equal protection under the law. In other words, governments may not apply the law to different people in different ways. Some might snicker and call such a concept ridiculous; some might say that the reality of American life proves the concept is meaningless. However, it remains one of the bedrocks of the American legal system, and arguably the most important right we enjoy as Americans. The anti-gay marriage laws effectively disqualify homosexuals from the legal benefits of marriage. They create a group of second class citizens, which is exactly what the Fourteenth Amendment was designed to prevent.
Some commentators have attempted to blunt the stark illegality of the collective propositions by arguing that homosexuality is a choice; and thus not part of the protective umbrella of the Fourteenth Amendment. These suggestions are patently dishonest and severely immoral. Can anyone tell me when they “chose” to be heterosexual? Likewise, no one “chooses” to be homosexual. Scientists have identified a number of possible causes of homosexuality (such as an enlarged hypothalamus), none of which involve “choice” of any kind.
Finally, the propositions reflect dubious pathologies and deep prejudices. These attitudes are as ill-founded as they are absurd. The notion of a “redefinition of marriage” is laughable. No one will force Christian ministers to marry two men or two women. These people simply want the same legal recognition everyone else is entitled to. What’s more, they are simply tired of the notion that there is something dangerous, dubious, or decadent about their love. Who these people love is different, but the affection they feel for one another is the same as what we feel. Their joys are our joys. Their sorrows are our sorrows. Any argument otherwise is flagrantly ridiculous.
On Election Day, a day on which we celebrated the historic elevation of an African American to the highest office in the land, several states voted for a return to legalized discrimination. Voters in Arkansas, California, and Florida formally voted to ban homosexuals from marrying. Social conservatives, whose victories have been few and far between of late, especially celebrated that California, the purported progressive paradise, led the homophobic charge.
Federal and state governments alike have become entangled in the institution of marriage, sanctioning bonds between individuals and extending legal benefits to married couples. Whether this is an appropriate arrangement is a debate for another time. What the numbers propositions ratified around the country over the past few years have done is limit the legal scope of marriage to one man and one woman.
This is illegal, immoral, and ridiculous.
The Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution, ratified in 1868 to protect newly freed African American slaves, guarantees all people equal protection under the law. In other words, governments may not apply the law to different people in different ways. Some might snicker and call such a concept ridiculous; some might say that the reality of American life proves the concept is meaningless. However, it remains one of the bedrocks of the American legal system, and arguably the most important right we enjoy as Americans. The anti-gay marriage laws effectively disqualify homosexuals from the legal benefits of marriage. They create a group of second class citizens, which is exactly what the Fourteenth Amendment was designed to prevent.
Some commentators have attempted to blunt the stark illegality of the collective propositions by arguing that homosexuality is a choice; and thus not part of the protective umbrella of the Fourteenth Amendment. These suggestions are patently dishonest and severely immoral. Can anyone tell me when they “chose” to be heterosexual? Likewise, no one “chooses” to be homosexual. Scientists have identified a number of possible causes of homosexuality (such as an enlarged hypothalamus), none of which involve “choice” of any kind.
Finally, the propositions reflect dubious pathologies and deep prejudices. These attitudes are as ill-founded as they are absurd. The notion of a “redefinition of marriage” is laughable. No one will force Christian ministers to marry two men or two women. These people simply want the same legal recognition everyone else is entitled to. What’s more, they are simply tired of the notion that there is something dangerous, dubious, or decadent about their love. Who these people love is different, but the affection they feel for one another is the same as what we feel. Their joys are our joys. Their sorrows are our sorrows. Any argument otherwise is flagrantly ridiculous.