In last Thursday night’s Vice Presidential debate, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin clarified their joint opposition to gay marriage.
Biden said it’s “only fair”to support the civil rights of same-sex couples, and Palen said she’s “tolerant” of gay couples; but neither one of them wants to see same-sex couples getting married in any traditional sense.
It sounded to me as if our country was back in the 1960s – debating whether it should be legal or illegal to deny marriage simply on the basis of race.
Before 1967, marriage between blacks and whites wasn’t tolerated; states were allowed to determine who and who could not marry purely on the basis of racial classification. The 1967 Supreme Court ruling (Loving v. Virginia) changed all that.
But we’re still doing the same damn thing. We’re still trying to tell people who can and cannot marry. Except now, instead of using racial classifications to prevent marriage between those of dissimilar skin color, we’re using sexual classifications to prevent marriage between those of similar sex organs.
And it’s wrong.
Wrong by any measure of human decency.
When we talk about “tolerating” any member of our society, we are talking about discriminating.
Discriminating against our own people — brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, co-workers and neighbors, congressmen and garbage collectors, teachers and the children they teach. Everyone knows someone who is gay.
But yes, by all means, let’s just tolerate them. Let’s be “fair” and permit them to shack up together. Let’s even allow them to own property together, have health insurance, and visit whichever one is dying in the hospital.
We’re heterosexuals, after all, not animals. The Palins and Bidens among us are decent, God-fearing folks who know how to treat the lesser among as, well, not quite equal, but certainly worthy of our tolerance, and the gays should be grateful for that. Right?
Let them fight – and die – for our country. Let them doctor us –save our lives, mend our broken arms, even counsel our depression. Let them put in our breast implants, mow our grass, style our hair, and govern our states. The Palins and the Bidens of the world wouldn’t deny the gays the right to work and serve.
They just don’t let those little same-sex heathens thinking they’re good enough – or tolerated enough – to be married in a traditional wedding, or heaven forbid, inside the walls of a house of God.
For a couple, marrying is the ultimate public declaration and recognition of their love. And whether heterosexual or homosexual, that public declaration and recognition strengthens not just the private bond between the couple, but also strengthens the public bonds so critical to our success as families, neighbors, communities, and as a nation.
We all want to be considered worthy of experiencing the joy of loving and being loved. Including the joy of marriage.
Biden and Palin would deny that right – that joy – to people who love someone of the same sex.
Meanwhile, as a heterosexual, I can get married and divorced as often as I like – as long as it’s to a man. A man who has beaten or psychologically abused his two former wives can continue to seek new wives. A woman who is marrying strictly for money, can walk with impunity down the aisle.
Even this country’s murderers and rapists – locked up in prison – are legally allowed to marry, while millions of hard-working, tax-paying, church-going (or not), community-volunteering, non-criminal gays are not.
I believe the hearts of Americans are more than just tolerant. I believe we are a people who would not deny anyone – regardless of their sexual orientation — the unalienable, constitutional right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. A life with a loving partner. The liberty to love freely. The happiness of being married if that’s what one wants.
To deny the sanctity of marriage to those who seek it earnestly, is to assume a judgment of and power over others that we have no right, God-given, or otherwise, to assume.
On November 4th, I encourage all Floridians to show Biden and Palin that the meagerness of their hearts on this issue is no match for the generosity of ours.
Vote NO on the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment.