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Column Fodder: Civilly Yours.
Nov. 21st, 2003 09:33 amYou look at something that seems so simplistic, so full of common sense, and it just exposes all of the hate there is in the world. The Massachusetts Supreme Court this week informed the state legislature this week that they had 180 days to fix a law that discriminates and doesn't provide equal protection under the law.
If this was 40 years ago, we'd probably be talking about civil rights for African Americans, and other minorities. What was true then, is true now. Creating second class citizens based on one or two differences, whatever those differences are, is wrong, and doesn't live up to the promise of this country that all are created equal. One state judiciary has seen the discrimination and has told the state to fix it.
It was an interesting tact. When the judicial system in this country has come under a lot of fire for creating policy from the bench, the Massachusetts court came back and said, this is illegal, now fix it. The time frame is significant, 180 days isn't long enough to pass an amendment to the state constitution, which is what Governor Mitt Romney wants, now that his back is against the wall.
There's an irrational fear from the religious right that if civil marriage is opened up to all citizens, regardless of the gender of the partners, that marriage, and the traditional family will simply fall apart. They seem blind to the fact that their are many, many functioning alternative family structures. It is simply denying the truth, and pretending you don't live in the modern world. There's a fundamentalist vibe that there can only be one type of family, and only one type of marriage, one that a man and a woman use to produce children, and they are willing to push aside notions of love, commitment and responsibility to try to push that ideal.
Even though Massachusetts doesn't have the time to pass a constitutional amendment, there is already a federal amendment that has been introduced weeks ago in the US house, and several groups supporting it that have popped up, every one conveniently having the name "family" in them. The vitriol and hate that is being churned up by these groups is enormous. They want same-sex marriage stopped before it can ever get started by making it illegal across the nation. What's interesting is that it truly takes an amendment to do it. Even they can see that denying same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. These people are so against the validation of our relationships that they feel that they must stop it by any means possible.
Why is that? What's the underlying reason? Are they really afraid that the structures they are so familiar with will break down? That the walls of their churches will crumble to the ground? That endorsing the love between two people will cause the Russians to invade like the movie Red Dawn and turn us into a godless nation of Patrick Swayze haters? Are they thinking that we'll lose God's favor?
It all seems so irrational. Haven't they seen that we already have same-sex marriages and unions that are endorsed by many, many churches in this country? Can they see that civil marriage only brings to couples the benefits that the state bestows on married couples? It really isn't an endorsement of the actual union. Heck, you can ask Lacy Peterson about how well her marriage worked out...well, that's a bad example. I guess you can't.
There's the rub, marriage doesn't really make the relationship, it's just a commitment, and sometimes it's just a commitment for the tax breaks and the consent forms and the visitation rights. It's those rights, for those who choose to seek them out, that become the important part of this fight. We're not asking the states to accept what we do behind closed doors, they've already done that through the breaking of the sodomy laws earlier this year. We're asking to be treated like everyone else. It doesn't matter who our partner is, we are all created equal under the law, and now it's time to bear that out.
It's beyond common sense when you have to completely go against the very document created to protect the citizens of this country to deny something that should already be there. Here's where our fight begins and ends. We don't need same-sex marriage to validate who we love, but we need it to prevent discrimination. Many of the rights bestowed on married couples can be replicated through other legal means, but same-sex marriage, or even the dissolving of civil marriage altogether, means that we are equal, full citizens of these United States, or at least another step closer.
That's worth fighting for.
If this was 40 years ago, we'd probably be talking about civil rights for African Americans, and other minorities. What was true then, is true now. Creating second class citizens based on one or two differences, whatever those differences are, is wrong, and doesn't live up to the promise of this country that all are created equal. One state judiciary has seen the discrimination and has told the state to fix it.
It was an interesting tact. When the judicial system in this country has come under a lot of fire for creating policy from the bench, the Massachusetts court came back and said, this is illegal, now fix it. The time frame is significant, 180 days isn't long enough to pass an amendment to the state constitution, which is what Governor Mitt Romney wants, now that his back is against the wall.
There's an irrational fear from the religious right that if civil marriage is opened up to all citizens, regardless of the gender of the partners, that marriage, and the traditional family will simply fall apart. They seem blind to the fact that their are many, many functioning alternative family structures. It is simply denying the truth, and pretending you don't live in the modern world. There's a fundamentalist vibe that there can only be one type of family, and only one type of marriage, one that a man and a woman use to produce children, and they are willing to push aside notions of love, commitment and responsibility to try to push that ideal.
Even though Massachusetts doesn't have the time to pass a constitutional amendment, there is already a federal amendment that has been introduced weeks ago in the US house, and several groups supporting it that have popped up, every one conveniently having the name "family" in them. The vitriol and hate that is being churned up by these groups is enormous. They want same-sex marriage stopped before it can ever get started by making it illegal across the nation. What's interesting is that it truly takes an amendment to do it. Even they can see that denying same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. These people are so against the validation of our relationships that they feel that they must stop it by any means possible.
Why is that? What's the underlying reason? Are they really afraid that the structures they are so familiar with will break down? That the walls of their churches will crumble to the ground? That endorsing the love between two people will cause the Russians to invade like the movie Red Dawn and turn us into a godless nation of Patrick Swayze haters? Are they thinking that we'll lose God's favor?
It all seems so irrational. Haven't they seen that we already have same-sex marriages and unions that are endorsed by many, many churches in this country? Can they see that civil marriage only brings to couples the benefits that the state bestows on married couples? It really isn't an endorsement of the actual union. Heck, you can ask Lacy Peterson about how well her marriage worked out...well, that's a bad example. I guess you can't.
There's the rub, marriage doesn't really make the relationship, it's just a commitment, and sometimes it's just a commitment for the tax breaks and the consent forms and the visitation rights. It's those rights, for those who choose to seek them out, that become the important part of this fight. We're not asking the states to accept what we do behind closed doors, they've already done that through the breaking of the sodomy laws earlier this year. We're asking to be treated like everyone else. It doesn't matter who our partner is, we are all created equal under the law, and now it's time to bear that out.
It's beyond common sense when you have to completely go against the very document created to protect the citizens of this country to deny something that should already be there. Here's where our fight begins and ends. We don't need same-sex marriage to validate who we love, but we need it to prevent discrimination. Many of the rights bestowed on married couples can be replicated through other legal means, but same-sex marriage, or even the dissolving of civil marriage altogether, means that we are equal, full citizens of these United States, or at least another step closer.
That's worth fighting for.
