Equal Rights

I'm off work for the next few days, which means, among other things, some extra TV watchin'. Today I was sort of half watching some political news about tomorrow's different elections and I saw something that really annoyed me. Was I annoyed by the actual elections? No, in fact, quite the opposite. I'm amused by the possibility of Virginia having a Governor named Mr. Deeds. And I'm very amused by Jon Corzine and his fuzzy, fuzzy beard. No, I was annoyed by something else which, as you know, means it's time for a blog.

It seems that, sometime earlier this year, the state of Maine passed a law legalizing same sex marriage. Good so far, this is how it's supposed to work. I don't want the federal government anywhere near this issue. State legislatures will, one by one, do the right thing and eventually, everyone will be able to get married in every state. Eventually. (sorry Alabama homosexuals, it's gonna be a while, but honestly, why are you still living in Alabama? A lot of those rednecks really don't like you). I suddenly became annoyed because, tomorrow, the good people of Maine will be voting on a referendum designed to overturn this newly passed law. California did something similar last year, although their ballot issue overturned a court decision, but the end result was the same, people had rights for a little while, then they didn't again. So here's my question.

How did we get to the point in this country where peoples' rights are up for a majority vote and we're OK with it? I'm a straight guy, why should I have any say in whether or not homosexuals can get married? I mean, I get to state my opinion, like I am now, and so does everyone else, but a vote, that actually matters? Where did we get the idea that we need to ask for a show of hands on everything?

I'm not going to complain about that anymore though, because, as I've said before, I'm a solutions guy. So if we're going to have ballot issues all over the country on this issue, which seems pretty much inevitable at this point, the solution would seem to be to persuade people to vote the right way. And how do we persuade boys and girls? That's right, we mock people who don't agree with us and call them stupid (that's how I do it, how do you do it?). OK fine, I won't call anyone stupid. Honestly, I don't think people who vote against same sex marriage are stupid, I just think they're being mislead by people who have no problem lying for votes.

Let me first say this. If you're against same sex marriage on moral grounds, because of your religion, I'm going to tell you why you're wrong in a minute, but you have every right to feel that way. However, if you call yourself a conservative, but you want government to be in the business of telling us what types of people are allowed to get married, you need to sit down and be quiet for a while, because the grown-ups are talking. This has nothing to do with actual, small government conservatism and everything to do with the social conservatives that have hijacked the Republican party. You can be someone who wants the government to enforce your religious values, or you can be for small government, but you can't be both.

Here are some of the main arguments you'll hear against same sex marriage, and why they're, ya know, wrong. I'd like to do this part quickly so I can get to my main points. So here goes.

First, sanctity of marriage. This is nonsense. Even the lawyer for proposition eight in California, the one that banned gay marriage, recently admitted that he has no evidence that gay marriage actually has any adverse effect on other marriages or any idea how it might. So, this is just a claim that people made up to fight something they don't like, but they have no evidence to support it and can't even really speculate as to how it might be true.

Second, the bible. Most discussions of homosexuality and the bible end up in the book of Leviticus. So, here's an idea, go read Leviticus. Go ahead, I'll wait. Done yet? OK. Now, you tell me, do you think we should be doing everything you just read? Me neither. I realize this seems kind of lazy and I could have spent more time actually telling you what this particular book of the bible says, but you really don't want to get me started on that, we'd be here all day (well, I'd be here all day, you'd stop reading at some point).

Third, the slippery slope. This is the argument that says, if we start moving the line on marriage, then it's a free-for-all for polygamists and people who want to marry their pets. This makes sense until you think about it for two minutes. This isn't a debate about moving the line, we've moved it before, interracial marriage used to be illegal. Now it's not. This is a debate about what goes on each side of the line, society will always have the ability to keep stuff that doesn't make sense on the other side.

So why should you care? Two reasons.

First, even if you don't know it, everyone has a friend, or a family member, or a neighbor who is homosexual, or bisexual. You know they deserve the same rights as everyone else. In a democracy, minorities who are being denied equal rights always need members of the majority to help them stand up for their rights. I'm not saying everyone needs to go to rallies or protests or marches, just use your vote. If you won't stand up for your friends, who will?

Second reason, and last point. I don't care about gay rights nearly as much as I care about equal rights. There will always be money and votes in dividing people, in singling out a certain group and telling everyone to be afraid of them, and there will always be people willing to take advantage of that. Eventually, those people will move on from homosexuals and find someone else to marginalize. Who's next? I don't know, but if you vote against same sex marriage, you're gonna feel pretty stupid if it's you.