Ive been trying to sit out the whole gay marriage thing that has been somewhat consuming the news recently. I tried really hard, until I read this take on gay marriage (note: the site has adult/insensitive content on portions of the site – so dont go clicking around if that stuff bothers you – the link itself is safe). The guy who wrote the opinion is a rather crude guy who can see that gays having access to the same rights as married couples isnt so tragic.
All these issues because same sex marriages are currently illegal. Okay. So let me think for a minute, that if they were legal, how would they effect my life. Would I have to pay more taxes? No. Would married gay people get a special check out line at the supermarket to get through line faster than me? No. Do they get their own special lane to avoid traffic jams? No. Do they get cheaper car insurance? No. Free car? No. Free socks? No.
That about sums it up. I think that the gay community would be better off not using the term “marriage”, which carries religious conotations for some (despite the definition not mentioning religion anywhere). If they used a term like “osmosis” everyone would laugh and say “those crazy gays are up to it again!” – hell theyd probably have gay couples on the wedding shows.
I was talking a while ago with a relative of mine who didnt agree with gay marriages. This persons main problem was with gay adoption, which is currently legal oddly enough. I think their opinion was that if they were raised in a gay household they would be gay themselves. I posed the idea that given the equal rights clauses in every state constitution I know of includes the term “gay” and “lesbian” its difficult to create a two tier system on this issue. I said the way I see it was that you had to choose between equal rights for all, no matter what, or remove such clauses. Their response was shocking: maybe equal rights arent such a good thing. Im sure Ill talk to them later after reading this and theyll tell me Im naive and young, maybe even an idealist, but I like to think Im hopeful, maybe even progressive.
Ill end with what Ive always said about gays and lesbians. As long as they respect my sexuality Ill respect theirs.
I think that it may clarify things to refer to “civil marriage” when talking about extending civil marriage to gays and lesbians. It is not much of a change in terms, but makes the point. Unless we rename “marriage” to “civil unions” for everyone, I don’t want a special “gay” term for non-straight marriage.