Recently, the Virginia General Assembly took steps to amend the state constitution in order to ban gay marriage. Both the House and Senate passed the proposed amendment, but before it can become a constitutional amendment it must pass both chambers again, and then be ratified by Virginia’s voters in the 2006 general election.
Virginia already has banned same sex unions, which I disagree with, but nevertheless the ban is already in place. However, legislators argue that the constitution should be amended to prevent Virginia from recognizing such unions from other states.
Whatever your feelings may be on homosexuality, discrimination is wrong. Virginia has only in the last few decades moved beyond treating people as second class citizens, and now it seems we’re returning to that same intolerant mentality.
I believe that homosexuality is not a choice. If it were a choice, for those of you who are straight, do you remember when you chose? I certainly don’t remember some magical day where I sat down and thought to myself “Gee, I like boys.” I was just born that way. Therefore, banning people from basic rights over something which they can not change is just wrong.
Not only that, but the United States Constitution and Virginia’s Constitution were created to protect rights, not restrict them. Prohibition was set up to restrict people’s rights, and as most of us know the amendment was removed. Such amendments that are meant to take away a person’s basic right do not belong in any constitution.
As Thomas Jefferson brilliantly wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
With instituting bans on gay marriage, gay couples are deprived from the “unalienable Rights” that are “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Even convicted felons are allowed to marry, so why shouldn’t innocent citizens have that same right?
Then there is the issue of protecting the sanctity of marriage. I don’t understand this argument. Why is there no talk about the fact that half of all marriages end in divorce? It seems to me that people getting unmarried is more of a threat to the institution than people getting married.
In addition, a stereotype is that gays live promiscuous lifestyles and the divorce rate would just increase. In heterosexual couples, studies show that somewhere between 20-40% of husbands and wives cheat on each other. Now who has a so-called promiscuous lifestyle?
There is more to the institution of marriage than the government simply recognizing the fact that two people are bound together. There are many benefits that come with being a married couple. For instance, if one person is in the hospital and visitors are restricted to family only, the partner is not allowed to visit their would be spouse.
People of the same sex getting married harms me in no way. When I find my Prince Charming, I won’t think “Oh my gosh...we can’t get married because gay people are getting married!” If your belief is that marriage is between a man and a woman only, then by all means, marry someone of the opposite sex. Just don’t deny other people basic rights based on a trait that they are born with.
yep, that's right. polygamy is alive and well and legal. So it's ok to have one many plus four women, but one man plus one man...
