I
feel now, and have always felt, that gays should have the same rights under the law to
enter into a marriage contract as anyone else does. When marriage is something
that takes place in a courtroom, every citizen of the country has the right to
sign a contract with anyone else. Here is where I get to say, "This is
America, buddy", and sound like a redneck.
I
am a politically moderate gay Mormon married man -- just so you know where I am
coming from. I firmly believe that the Supreme Court of the United States made the correct decision on the recent gay marriage case correctly.
I am not required to support it on Facebook (though I do). I don't have to like all
the rainbow photos (though I got to tell you that I am pleased for my friends
who feel validated this week and wish them all the happiness in the world.) If we have put the federal government in a position where they have to
regulate marriage and marriage licensing, then everyone has the right to marry.
The
bigger concern for me has always been of freedoms in general. I am not interested
in forcing my moral code onto someone else, and I will not have them force theirs
upon me. Some things just feel wrong, and I would fight that fight until
my fingers bleed.
The
real issue is not that the government gets to regulate marriage for all, but
quite the opposite. The government
should not be in our homes and in our bedrooms. The fight, the issue we should
have been fighting for is not the regulating of marriage but in putting marriage
back in the hands of the people.
I
support the right of two people to marry and I support the right of a pizzeria
to cater any event they choose. I also support the right we have to attend the wedding or
patronize that pizzeria – or not.
Where we go from here.
First things
first. Congratulations to all the new
married people.
Next
thing, and I believe the very next thing: There will be those who will use this week’s ruling to aggressively pursue religious institutions
who choose not to marry gays -- which is exactly why several religious institutions
have been engaged in pushing for personal and religious freedoms protection in courts of law. (Ah, who am I kidding. I am talking Mormons and Catholics.)
The same morality that conservatives used to exclude homosexuals will now be aimed at those who do
not share their personal beliefs.
Your religion doesn't allow gays to marry? Take that.
The SCOTUS answered the question in the right way but we should have been asking a different question. Our focus should have been wither we want the U.S. government to have a more say in anyone's marriage?
What we have done is given the government itself a dose of Viagra. This ruling that we asked the supreme court to make has effectually enhanced the power of the federal government and lessened ours. The feds get to make the decisions now, and it shouldn't be their call. The final say should have been the peoples.
We should have
been trying to restrict government from having more than limited say in the marriage between two people.
And now, the real battle starts.
