“Fucking hell, Maine. You shot down gay marriage? http://is.gd/4N4jk If someone told me I couldn’t marry the person I loved, I’d be pissed.”
The article referenced concerns a recent state vote in Maine, US, which could have effectively removed the law banning same sex marriages. A vote that ended with 53% of voters successfully appealing against removing the ban.
My initial reaction was one of surprise and disappointment. Surely in this day and age where we are encouraged to be as open and understanding of others as possible, even to the extent that our own rights often take a back seat, surely no-one would object to two people who love each other getting married, regardless of sexual orientation?
I decided to look into this further. In the article, as well as details on the Maine vote, it also indicated that California has recently held a similar vote with an identical result. That’s a straight two for two for the morally repressed. But wait, how many of the other 48 states have similar laws that ban same sex marriage? This may surprise you, I know it did me, but only five of the US states allow same sex marriage, and in these five states legislation has been amended to allow it. In contrast 31 states have in recent years put the gay marriage issue to the public vote and in each and every instance the vote has resulted in a ban. 31! All this from the so-called ‘land of the free’.
Now, I’m not an idiot. As sad as it is, I fully understand that there will always be prejudice against homosexuals. Nor do I think that this is a problem restricted to America. But I thought that we had progressed enough to realise that people are different in all walks of life, and that tolerance of others should be encouraged. But it seems like the good people of America are standing up and saying ‘fuck tolerance’. Not only are they saying that, but they are teaching their children that it’s OK to say it. Surely this isn’t right on any level?
With the storm and subsequent fall-out caused by the introduction of Proposition 8 in California in 2008, it would appear that the common argument against legalising gay marriage is that it might mean teaching it in schools. People don’t like this. But why not? Schools these days go out of their way to teach children about religions other than Christianity. We are all being encouraged to be more tolerant of people irrespective of age, sex and colour. In fact, there are laws in this country that not only support this, but that make it a criminal offence to discriminate on this basis. So why is it still OK to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation?
Teaching children about gay relationships can only be a good thing, so what are the parents worried about? Are they scared that teaching their children that gay people exist will turn them gay themselves? But that in itself is a ludicrous thought. You can’t change someone’s sexual preference by suggestion. It’s not like getting them to try broccoli. I learnt about the World Wars when I was 11, but I don’t go around assassinating royalty or attending Nazi rallies.
Not only do I think that teaching same sex relationships in schools is a good thing, I think it is essential. The news is full of acts of hatred and violence against gay people based solely on the fact that they are gay. It seems to be the last bastion of the bigot. The only hate crime that is not classed as a hate crime. The only way to change this is through education. Making it legal for gay people to marry will not in itself change this, but by educating young people that gay couples exist, and that being gay is not wrong, or taboo, will hopefully be enough to make them question their parents when they preach against same sex relationships.
It makes me sad and ashamed that we still live in a world that discriminates against people on such a widespread and acceptable level. And don’t even get me started on the religious argument. If God could see us, he’d be turning in his grave.
she'd be turning in her grave :-)
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