Yesterday's popular vote in Maine which essentially killed legislation allowing gay marriage in that state was yet one more defeat to those who believe that the legalization of same-sex marriage is long overdue. David Crary, reporting for the Associated Press, states that this has been the result in each of 31 states that have put this issue to a popular vote. The states that currently allow such marriages--Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Iowa--have legalized it through court decisions or legislation. The article goes on to say that 30 other states have enacted bans on gay marriage through the referendum process.
This begs the question of why Americans are using this process to force their opinions on the life choices of others. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that this was not the purpose of referendum voting. The separation of church and state keeps the dominant religions from interfering in others' personal choices regarding worship. Why, then, should the dominant paradigm of heterosexual marital unions be portrayed as the only true and legal "marriage"?
As this country struggles through the worse economic crisis since the Great Depression, one also wonders why this is an issue at all. Why should I care if the two men or the female couple down the street get married? It wouldn't impact my life at all; I would still be married, other straight persons would continue to marry or not, as they saw fit. It simply is not a problem, social or otherwise. Could it be that the majority of Americans are so mean-spirited and spiteful that simply keeping others from experiencing rights that they have always enjoyed is the only way that they can feel alive? Gee, I hope not.
Change is always on the horizon, but not completely in the grasp of those who demand equality. Obama has pledged to rescind the "don't ask, don't tell" military policy in effect since Clinton, but has yet to do so. The House recently voted to add assaults on gays to the list of hate crimes, but that is just the first step. Those who now want to dissolve their same-sex marriages find they cannot do so in 45 of these United States, thus being prevented from making another decision about their own lives. Gay rights are simply human rights. When will Americans realize this?
This begs the question of why Americans are using this process to force their opinions on the life choices of others. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that this was not the purpose of referendum voting. The separation of church and state keeps the dominant religions from interfering in others' personal choices regarding worship. Why, then, should the dominant paradigm of heterosexual marital unions be portrayed as the only true and legal "marriage"?
As this country struggles through the worse economic crisis since the Great Depression, one also wonders why this is an issue at all. Why should I care if the two men or the female couple down the street get married? It wouldn't impact my life at all; I would still be married, other straight persons would continue to marry or not, as they saw fit. It simply is not a problem, social or otherwise. Could it be that the majority of Americans are so mean-spirited and spiteful that simply keeping others from experiencing rights that they have always enjoyed is the only way that they can feel alive? Gee, I hope not.
Change is always on the horizon, but not completely in the grasp of those who demand equality. Obama has pledged to rescind the "don't ask, don't tell" military policy in effect since Clinton, but has yet to do so. The House recently voted to add assaults on gays to the list of hate crimes, but that is just the first step. Those who now want to dissolve their same-sex marriages find they cannot do so in 45 of these United States, thus being prevented from making another decision about their own lives. Gay rights are simply human rights. When will Americans realize this?
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