While driving to work today, I heard a story on NPR detailing a plan by the government in Russia to outlaw any acknowledgment of the existence of homosexuality. This, of course, includes Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered and Questioning people. The reasons, as stated by NPR, are to prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation. I, for one, agree completely that laws should exist to protect children from predators (of any kind), but I fail to see the connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse. Of course there are examples of men that abuse boys, *cough* the Catholic Church, and there are instances of undoubtedly straight men abusing girls. Likewise women abuse boys, and women abuse girls. Child predators come in all genders and sexual orientations. It is a weak argument, and a discriminatory and ignorant stance, to infer through legislation that the problem exists solely on the grounds of sexual orientation. Now, what hit me most was another part of the story where it was reported that the United States State Department called on Russia to abandon this law and respect the rights of the minority. Why does this hit me especially hard? Because I live in Tennessee. In this state there is a similar bill before the state House of Representatives that makes it illegal to acknowledge homosexuality. The “Don’t Say Gay” bill is, if not as strict as its Russian counterpart, equally ignorant, bigoted, and discriminatory. Our own government will speak out against such laws in another country meanwhile in our own country examples of the same kind of hate are being legislated today! It is outrageous.
The reasons many people give for the existence of such a bill are that it “cheapens” the family and is morally corrupt. Moral by whose standards? The standards of a system of churches that accepts people that cheat on their wives, beat their children, abuse their altar boys, become alcoholics, make other terrible choices, etc… It is unacceptable to be held by standards that allow those people to make poor choices, of which they have full control, while those in the GLBTQ community are shunned, bullied, and otherwise oppressed not for making a choice but for existing. It is no more a choice to be gay as it is a choice to be white. I did not choose either of those things for myself, nor did any other person on this planet make any choice about who they are. These things are present from birth.
Another reason people give for anti-gay legislation is that it is somehow an attack on their religion. To them, I say you are suffering from delusions of grandeur. There is no supreme religion on the planet. Period. There may be a majority, but that majority does not somehow make it a mandate to impose a system of beliefs onto the other citizens that happen to believe in other things. These same people that believe that it is acceptable to legislate from the Pulpit also cry foul when other religions try to pass laws based on their religion. Sharia law, or Muslim Law, is very strict, and some countries in the world actually obey these laws. That is their choice as a country… and it is none of our concern. Let’s focus on this country, founded on the beliefs that all people are created equal with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
In those three items alone, promised to me by my forefathers, is all the argument I need to make the case that any stance against homosexuality is morally corrupt based on the principles of our country. I am promised life. That right is taken away from me, and the children that are GLBTQ, when people of faith torture those that are gay to the point that the only way for them to escape is suicide. Where is the promise of life there? I am promised Liberty. Liberty is the belief that, within reason, I am allowed to choose, behave, and exist in a way that is right for me… and only me. My prime obligation is to myself. And I am promised the right to pursue happiness. For many people, the idea of meeting someone they love and marrying them is one of their goals in attaining happiness. Of course marriage and relationships do not solely make a person happy. Some people are very happy single. The point is that you are supposed to have the right to do whatever makes you happy. Laws that prohibit my search for happiness, like those that ban gay marriage, are not what the founding fathers intended. These kinds of laws are wrong. It is not complicated, it is not unclear, and in fact, it is quite simple.
So what is the problem? Why is it such a big issue that I want to marry another man? How does that make any other marriage less important? If society becomes completely open to gay marriage, we are not going to suddenly have a surge of gay. It is not some magical switch that will instantly turn all men gay. It just doesn’t work that way. There will always be gay people and there will always be straight people. That is a fact of nature. Homosexuality exists in most species on Earth. It is not a human choice or human invention. It is a part of nature. What is a choice is how you choose to deal with your religion when dealing with other people. You can choose to act out and hate people while holding your Bible or Qur’an, as so many people do. Or you can take to heart what these religions actually teach and accept your neighbor for who he/she is, love them, and live peacefully. In the eyes of humanity, to hate is to fail. History has shown us that time and time again. Put down the books, put down the knives of language and law, and once and for all live peacefully with your neighbors. In the end, that is really all we want.
