Equal Protection

I am feeling the need to give my opinion tonight and even though I know no one reads this I feel like I am giving my opinion to someone on here. That beings said here we go.

Lately here in Iowa there has been a hot and heavy debate over the issue of same sex marriage and whether or not the Supreme Court ruling saying that denying marriage licenses to same sex couples is unconstitutional was the correct decision. So much so that this week the Iowa house passed a resolution to define marriage as a union between one woman and one man and ban any other kind of civil union for same sex couples. And all this has made me wonder if people realize just how stupid they sound when they speak. So I am going to do my very best to break this down into it's various parts.

First and for most the constitution in Iowa states that there is equal protection under the law, meaning the majority can't get together and decide to treat any minority unfairly. This means that denying same sex couples marriage licenses is indeed unconsititutional. That should be where this debate ends but unfortunately it has not. Because of that I would like to take a moment and run through the reasons I have heard this week as to why same sex couples should not be allowed to marry.

1. It threatens the sanctity of marriage.

Gonna have to call bullshit on this one considering the divorce rate in this country between hetero sexual couples is hovering around 50%. In addition, some people get divorced and remarried more often than they change underwear. You can't use the sanctity of marriage as a reason until the hetero sexual population start taking it more seriously.

2. The whole point of a marriage is to produce children and a same sex couple can not produce children the way a hetero sexual couple can.

Okay, I will agree that two men, or two women are probably never going to procreate without the assistance of modern science, at least not in the traditional way. That being said when was it decided that that was the point of marriage? And what about all those hetero sexual couples that can't or choose not to have children? What about a person like me who doesn't want to have kids but would rather adopt? Does that mean that all the people falling into those catergories shouldn't be allowed to marry as well? Good luck getting that passed into law, and since we wouldn't discriminate against hetero sexual people for not being able to or choosing not to have children why would we do it to anyone else? Again I am going to call bullshit.

3. If we allow same sex couples to marry what is to stop us from changing laws to say you can marry and "internet character" or your pet?

I would really rather not respond to this because I find it incredibly insulting. But the answer to that question is, common sense, which isn't so common anymore. I can not believe a person would lump same sex marriage into the same category as marrying a fictional character or an animal that is not human. It disgusts me that someone would suggest that, and I find it offensive. Not only insulting and offensive to my own sensibilities and my intelligence but a slap in the face to same sex couples everywhere. Again I give a resounding bullshit to this as a reason to ban same sex marriage.

The bottom line is that this whole issue is born out of fear. Fear of what I don't know but the only time people act this irrationally is when they are afraid. I personally know several same sex couples some of which of choosen to marry some of which who have not. I can honestly say it has not diminished or changed how I feel about marriage, in general, or my future marriage, it has not had an adverse effect on my life in anyway. If anything it has brought happiness to my life because the people around me are happy and have found someone to share their lives with. Why would we deny anyone the right to be happy, and when did we decide that we GET to decide who has the right to the pursuit of happiness?

And back the real issue, of equal protection under the law. Some people may think it's a great idea at this point because they are in the majority but if we set this precident then those same people may find themselves in the minority in the future and then I am SURE they will not think it is a great idea.

It saddens me greatly that our society as a whole has apparently not learned anything in the last. . .oh I don't know. . .60 years. And it saddens me that we are still operating out of a place of fear and hatered of things that are different than what we are "used to". But apparently that is where we are at. And until that changes I think I am going to have to ramp up my political activism. . .email my representatives, use my blog and facebook page to get the word out, and if necessary knock on every door in my neighborhood. If you agree I would recommend you do the same, we need to take such a stand on this issue that there is no question about what the "people want".