Excuse me, I thought this was 2011, not 1954. My bad! A couple of days ago, I wrote that I’ve avoided talking politics and heated political issues in this blog with a couple of notable exceptions. One heated topic I don’t shy away from in marriage equality.
I’m a married woman. My wife and I were legally wed in Washington, D.C. November 19th, 2010. We were married by the Reverend Tiffany Newman who, it should be noted, is a biracial woman married to a white man. Part of Tiffany’s appeal to us was that she openly advertises the fact that she supports same sex marriage and weds gay and lesbian couples based on her views of the unfairness of our nations laws in light of the fact that not so very long ago her own mixed race marriage was considered illegal.
If It’s Good Enough for 16 Year Olds, Why Isn’t It Good Enough For Me?
My spouse and I had to return home to Ohio where we have zero rights as a same sex married couple. My 16 year old son can legally wed in Ohio (with my consent) as long as he marries a female of at least 16 years of age (who has parental consent). If you’re familiar with the maturity level of the average 16 year old boy, you know how absurd it is that my son, or any other 16 year old male for that matter, can legally marry here and be considered married by the federal government and be granted more than 1,000 rights and privileges, but my own marriage is not considered valid in more than a handful of states.
Why can a 16 year old get married when two loving, consenting adults of the same sex can’t?
Why do Criminals Have More Rights than Upstanding Citizens?
Why can an incarcerated for life serial killer, who will never live with their spouse, get married – in a jailhouse ceremony no less – as long as he or she is heterosexual, but gay and lesbian couples cannot marry? Why is the serial killers spouse able to benefit from more than 1000 rights and privileges that a law abiding, tax paying, military serving gay couple don’t get to benefit from? How is that fair?
Remember What Happened the Last Time the Majority Made Laws for the Minority?
The minister that married my wife and me knows her U.S. history. We all know it. It’s the history of slavery, the Civil War, desegregation, the civil rights movement, and integration to some degree. We’re not all the way to full equality yet for the black minority and this is due, primarily, to still entrenched pockets of racial prejudice in this country. These pockets exist in certain areas of the country but they consist of a mixture of people from both major political parties.
We again, at this time in our nation’s history, have the majority making laws for the minority and practicing oppression. Only this time, instead of whites making laws for blacks, it’s heterosexuals making laws for homosexuals. Guess what? A lot of the opposition to LGBT rights, especially marriage equality rights for same sex couples, comes out of the same areas where we find the pockets of racial prejudice, but it goes a step further. The overwhelming majority of those who would hold us back, are white, “Christian”, republicans. Why is that?
Love is Love – The Book That Explains it All:
Love Warriors: The Rise of the Marriage Equality Movement and Why It Will Prevail
I have to admit, as a former soldier and a married member of the LGBT community, the title of this book is what drew me to it. It didn’t disappoint!
Love Warriors: The Rise of the Marriage Equality Movement and Why It Will Prevail
The Amazon.com Product Description:
Love Warriors is a comprehensive reader on the same-sex marriage movement, outlining the rights, benefits and protections marriage provides and the real-life harm caused by marriage discrimination. Kotulski affirms that advancing equality for LGBT people is part of the American legacy of expanding human rights and upholding cherished values. Love Warriors is perfect for veteran supporters and those still on the fence. “Love Warriors illustrates how society is best served when all loving couples who want to settle down are all able to do so through the civil institution of marriage.” -Mark Leno, California Leader
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