Gay Marriage

It’s here. Will it destroy the fabric of our society?

We don’t have to guess at the answer. We already have gay marriage in Massachusetts, and a reasonable facsimile of it in other states. The “fabric” of Massachusetts seems to be holding up just fine. It has the lowest divorce rate in the country, while the conservative Bible Belt states have the highest. The divorce rate in Arkansas, for example, is a whopping three times that of Massachusetts.  (Connecticut also has gay marriage, as did Calif.)

No one is ever able to give an example of exactly how equal access to the legal benefits of marriage could destroy America or the institution of marriage. (See next page.) Truth is, those who say that it would do not oppose equality because they honestly care about the “institution of marriage” (as if heterosexuals have not already wrecked it). What they care about is their own discomfort, their own prejudices, or their own personal religious beliefs which they want to impose on everyone else.


That discomfort and those beliefs are quite understandable. But they don’t qualify as reasons to oppose equality.



Ever wondered about

the "gay agenda," with

respect to marriage?


What do gay couples mean when they say they want the same "benefits and responsibilities" marriage provides?


    More than 1,000 federal laws, and up to several hundred more state laws, are automatically triggered for a couple the moment they legally marry.


    Here’s a short list of what people are denied, when denied access to marriage.


  1. Assumption of Spouse’s Pension

  2. Automatic Inheritance

  3. Immigration

  4. Sick Leave to Care for Partner

  5. Social Security Survivor Benefits

  6. Veteran’s Discounts

  7. Visitation of Partner in Hospital or Prison

  8. Automatic Housing Lease Transfer

  9. Bereavement Leave

  10. Burial Determination

  11. Child Custody

  12. Crime Victim’s Recovery Benefits

  13. Divorce Protections

  14. Domestic Violence Protection

  15. Exemption from Property Tax on Partner’s Death

  16. Immunity from Testifying Against Spouse

  17. Insurance Breaks

  18. Joint Adoption and Foster Care

  19. Joint Bankruptcy

  20. Joint Parenting (Insurance Coverage, School Records)

  21. Medical Decisions on Behalf of Partner

  22. Certain Property Rights

  23. Reduced Rate Memberships

  24. Sick Leave to Care for Partner

  25. Visitation of Partner’s Children

  26. Wrongful Death (Loss of Consort) Benefits

  27. Access to Military Stores

Social progress—justice and equality in particular—has never been achieved by doing what is comfortable. Seeing new perspectives and rethinking old prejudices is always painful, always an intellectual and emotional challenge. But wise and courageous people embrace that discomfort, because it is the only route we have to our betterment as a caring and just society.


So, if you say you want to restrict a certain people’s right to pursue happiness by denying them equal access to marriage, first think about what it is you want to deny them (see sidebar at left). Then be aware that if you can’t explain how society would be harmed, then honesty requires you to acknowledge up front that your notion is based on fantasy (either religious, prejudicial or both). And your attempt to impose it on the public—in a country committed to equality—must not be permitted to prevail.


You are welcome to your own private prejudices and/or religious beliefs, including any concept of “sin” you choose. But you may apply your religious notions only to yourself, and to others in your religion. In a land of religious freedom, you are not welcome to apply them to everyone else. If you think it’s a sin to be gay, for example, then conduct yourself accordingly. Don’t attempt to conduct the lives of others who do not share your religious notion of sin—especially not over something that isn’t inherently bad, yet is so inherently a part of who we are as human beings.


If you could show how equal access to marriage would be harmful in reality, then that would be a different matter, because public policy concerns itself with what happens in reality. But “public policy” must not get caught up in the perceived ruminations of supernatural deities.    - Larry Hallock



P.S. Here’s the thing about prejudice...

 
Internet photo, unknown source

Part 1  —  Part 2   —   Part 3 

Read the text of a Commitment Ceremony for a gay coupleCommitment_Ceremony.htmlCommitment_Ceremony.htmlCommitment_Ceremony.htmlCommitment_Ceremony.htmlshapeimage_5_link_0shapeimage_5_link_1shapeimage_5_link_2

   Happiness.


   Everyone has a right to pursue it!

3 cute “Proposition 8” PSAs
in the style of
“I’m a Mac / I’m a PC”3_Prop8_PSAs.html
“Why seeing gay marriage in action makes people more tolerant.”
by Richard JustRichard_Just,_%22Why_seeing.htmlRichard_Just,_%22Why_seeing.htmlRichard_Just,_%22Why_seeing.htmlshapeimage_7_link_0shapeimage_7_link_1