Love is love, and true love transcends time and ideas. The heterosexual couple whose battles were with angry parents and an even harsher economy or some other plot device has always portrayed the theme of star-crossed lovers. For gay couples wishing to marry, the plight of the star-crossed lover is still prevalent as our country’s clouded ideals limit yet another group’s rights because they stray from the “norm.”
Gay couples are routinely facing an uphill battle for many of the benefits straight couples receive. The right to adopt and simply being openly gay are problems that still need tackling in our society. We always tell our children to be proud of who they are, because they are unique and special in their own way. To put down somebody who is gay is totally hypocritical because it rejects an aspect that makes him or her unique. Unlike the people on “16 and Pregnant,” the show on MTV that showcases the drama tic lifestyle changes for couples whose baby was an accident, when gay couples file for adoption they know what they are doing. No child can be unwanted in this circumstance due to all the planning and time involved in adoption.
The argument that gay marriage destroys the sanctity of marriage is laughable. In America there are 6,646 divorces every day and over 46,000 every week. Marriages are meant to be a binding contract under God, so if thousands of men and women break this contract hourly, it seems the sanctity of marriage was annihilated after a religion other than Catholicism came into being. And let’s not start on the number of people who cheat on their significant other in a heterosexual relationship. If the sanctity of marriage is still standing after Anthony Weiner has possible extramarital affairs, then gay marriage probably won’t be the killing blow.
The only argument that can be made against gay marriage that has an ounce of weight is that it goes against the religions of some Americans. However it is quite clear in the Constitution that church and state may not be joined at any time, something many Republicans need to learn. People have the right to be angry that their taxes are going toward something they disagree with and a person may refuse to pay taxes that support gay marriage. The majority of their taxes, though, will go to America’s defense systems and to the troops. In a sense, more Americans are willing to pay for bullets that kill people than for flowers for a gay marriage.
Gay people are people (it’s in the name) and if our nation is all about equality and freedom then we need to prove it. It is time to stop treating people differently because of who they are. Just because somebody is different doesn’t mean there isn’t good inside of them.
Times are changing. We have slapped the label of equality wherever we can, and it is high time we showed that we are worthy of the label. If as a nation we have paved the way for gender and racial equality, who is to say we can’t do the same for gays? We are a nation of immigrant and unique people where there is no majority or minority because deep down we are all the same.