Gay Marriage and the Rights of Homosexuals
The most recent battle of Prop 8 was about far more than marriage vs. domestic partnership, far more than gays and lesbians; it was about human dignity, with basic American rights being determined. Just as it was clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence on July 4th , 1776 “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (“Declaration of Independence,”1995). If homosexuals are created equal, why then are there laws being passed to constrict their freedom? What happened to their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Prop 8 is one of many issues used to establish what kind of country this will be in years to come, whether fairness and equality would reign, or religious based fervor and bigotry will dominate. The Declaration of Independence applies equally to both gay and straight citizens. Thus, the government does not have the right to enact laws that ban marriage between individuals based on their sexual orientation.
While the United States is prided on the fact that it is a “free” nation. one may become speculative on what freedom means in the United States where not only racism once freely reigned, as well as gender inequality; however, now a more prominent issue of homophobia is more widely viewed. It is not the fact that homosexuals want the right to marry that is innately wrong in the eyes of Conservative religions and Anti-same-sex marriage organizations like Protect Marriage (an organization that sponsored “yes on Prop 8” on the November 2008 ballot), but the fact that Conservatives are against the change that homosexuals are causing with the federal and state laws, that has led to the same sex marriage ban in the 2008 election. It is through this disagreement that Conservative organizations and religious groups have upheld homophobia as a way to appeal to the opposition... [continues]
The most recent battle of Prop 8 was about far more than marriage vs. domestic partnership, far more than gays and lesbians; it was about human dignity, with basic American rights being determined. Just as it was clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence on July 4th , 1776 “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (“Declaration of Independence,”1995). If homosexuals are created equal, why then are there laws being passed to constrict their freedom? What happened to their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Prop 8 is one of many issues used to establish what kind of country this will be in years to come, whether fairness and equality would reign, or religious based fervor and bigotry will dominate. The Declaration of Independence applies equally to both gay and straight citizens. Thus, the government does not have the right to enact laws that ban marriage between individuals based on their sexual orientation.
While the United States is prided on the fact that it is a “free” nation. one may become speculative on what freedom means in the United States where not only racism once freely reigned, as well as gender inequality; however, now a more prominent issue of homophobia is more widely viewed. It is not the fact that homosexuals want the right to marry that is innately wrong in the eyes of Conservative religions and Anti-same-sex marriage organizations like Protect Marriage (an organization that sponsored “yes on Prop 8” on the November 2008 ballot), but the fact that Conservatives are against the change that homosexuals are causing with the federal and state laws, that has led to the same sex marriage ban in the 2008 election. It is through this disagreement that Conservative organizations and religious groups have upheld homophobia as a way to appeal to the opposition... [continues]
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