Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Freedom and Justice for All. Unless You're Gay.

Unbelievably, against all evidence of a progressive mindset, the California Supreme Court has decided that gay people are not entitled to the full set of human rights that most of us enjoy. Marriage is a right that has been taken off their table.

The argument (a word which barely applies here) is that we must protect the sanctimony of the word "marriage" and restrict it to unions between a man and a woman. We must do this to protect children.

Here's a newsflash: the institution of marriage has bigger problems than the sexual orientation of it's participants. My young children already have a command of terms like step-father, half sister, ex-wife, and single mother. One may pretend that we all live in happy, nuclear families but let's be honest. Pretending as much will be unlikely to fool the children we hope to protect with this idealistic view. They are living a different reality and know otherwise.

I say it makes no sense to shield marriage from same-sex unions when so many other (more prevalent) threats are already tearing it apart. And if such a protection initiative involves denying basic rights to large chunks of the population, it is really not a defensible idea.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous5/27/2009

    Let me try and understand you ?
    You are: Pro Gay Rights, Can't understand how Portland is on top, don't care much about species becoming extinct, and your # 1 comedy is My Cousin Vinny.
    You must be a gay, Italian big game hunter, living in San Francisco who has never seen Caddy Shack or Super Bad !!!

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  2. Is that you, Phil McCraken?

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  3. Right on 48! You've come a long way since growing up in the shack in the woods of Maine. I hope none of the pulp mill guys see this posting or you may have to leave the country again.

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  4. Anonymous4/06/2010

    I was butting heads with my boss today. He's upset that kids are being taught homosexuality at school. Heavens, as that will turn them gays and lesbians... I lost it, almost cost me my job...

    Riitta

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