For as long as I can remember, I have been a strong supporter of equal marriage rights for people of every sexual orientation. I've always had gay people in my life and I've never considered them any different than myself or anyone else.
All parents keep funny little stories about their kids growing up and mine are no exception. One of their favorites is when, at the age of 4, I came up to them and asked what "gay" meant. Being the progressive people that they are, my parents wanted to make damn sure that they explained this in an enlightened way.
So they started in on explaining homosexuality to me and they quickly noticed that I looked very confused. As they were going on about how sometimes men love men and sometimes women love women, I interrupted them. I said, "I know about that! I want to know about "Don we now our gay apparel". D'OH!
My parents were incredibly amused that I knew all about homosexuality and that it was far easier to explain that to me than what my Christmas carol meant. We constantly hear from conservative America about how they don't want to have to explain these things to their kids, yet to kids it's the easiest thing in the world to understand. Gay marriage is even easier for kids to understand, as marriage and kids is the obvious progression of life in their little minds.
So why the hell can't adults seem to wrap their heads around this idea?
Well, some can. In fact, plenty of Illinoisans can and they're setting out to do something about the inequality of marriage in our state. I'm among them. I believe that, if you love somebody, you should be able to marry them. Period. It's not anybody else's business. If you don't like gay marriage, don't have one!
Recently, a group formed on the online networking site, Facebook, supporting the idea of civil unions in Illinois. Over 8,000 people joined in a very short period of time. Several people I have worked with in the past are working on taking advantage of this. They're created the website Civil Unions Illinois to organize the obvious groundswell of support for civil unions in IL. Go over there and sign up.
State Representative Greg Harris is the chief sponsor in the House of legislation supporting civil unions in IL, House Bill 1826. State Senator Heather Steans is the chief sponsor of the legislation in the Senate.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
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3 comments:
I'm personally in favor of the state getting out of the marriage business entirely and instituting civil unions for any two single willing adults, leaving marriage entirely as a religious ceremony.
That is my position as well. Civil unions for everyone under the law. If someone wants a religious ceremony, that can be administered as a church sees fit. The state shouldn't be in the business of religious rites.
I inclined to getting counties out of the marriage licensing business.
A license is discrimination by definition and it's the test of anyone advocating "marriage equality" (like my Unitarian Universalist Church).
The question those advocating equality have to reflect on though is will they tolerate marriages as these folks in Texas have done.
One can make a case that the "State" does have an interest in preventing these polyagamous marriages because they are inevitably abusive.
I think are culture is so libertarian that we have to accept these situations and fall back on child protection laws... but it's the real test for those who call for "marriage equality"... are they willing to just get counties out of the licensing business all together and let folks fend for themselves on how the contract with each other?
I always get a chuckle out of leftest advocating marriage these days as I recall the 60s when marriage was viewed as inevitbable bondage of women... now it's a right...
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