Should Gays Be Subjected To the Laws of Marriage?

by Lisa Byron | June 24, 2010 1:01 pm

The issue of gay marriage has been on my mind quite a bit lately. For one, it comes up regularly in the news cycle.

There was California’s Proposition 8. It was fondly given the moniker “Prop H8”, (pronounced hate), by various groups of pro-gay marriage supporters. In Iowa, gay marriage was made legal without a vote by the people. The latter angers all types of people, for a variety of reasons, none of which are pertinent here.
Then recently, Elton John performed at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding. To the MSM and liberals alike, this was clearly a treasonous act. Obvious to them, John had betrayed everyone in the gay community. Performing for money, (which is essentially how they both make their living by the way), was akin to prostitution. Had they bothered to do any fact checking they would have found that John’s view on gay marriage aligns nicely with Limbaugh’s, which is an essentially anti-gay marriage, and pro-civil union stance.
I have always believed, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”, not only applies to all United States citizens, but is a right by virtue of being born human. Until recently I assumed that meant I was pro-gay marriage. That easy, case closed. That is until relatively recently…

Due to circumstances close to home, I have been researching divorce laws. There are many variants state-by-state, a big one being Nevada’s six week residency requirement. A state will probably have a residency requirement of a year, it may even require a waiting period of another year, and some even demand you share the (very) personal reason for the dissolution of a marriage. Making me ask myself, “why is the government so damned involved in marriage?” Followed immediately by the conclusion that I don’t care why, or even how this happened. I just want it out. Now. (There was certainly not a place to get a marriage license when we were settling the west.)
So the following is my revised, newly polished stance:

It is not the business of what any two, or more (yes I said it), persons choose to do in their personal lives. Period. If they want to enter into a legally binding contract that ties them together, that’s fine. They can even call it a civil union if it tickles them to do so. Why? Simple. It is none of anyone else’s business.

Where does this leave “marriage”? Anywhere you want it. I personally tend to think of “married”, as something that two people “are” after their chosen religious ceremony. Yet if two people practicing the religion of atheism want to use the word marriage to describe their union, I say let them. It’s still a free country… right?

P.S. This inevitably raises questions about healthcare coverage, tax deductions, and other such complications. Guess what? I have answers, if you want them… and surprise, they too, involve no government mandates.

Disclosure: this post was written at the suggestion of Lisa De Pasquale (@LisaDeP). She re-tweeted the following by Patrick Gavin (@pwgavin), “One day, pro-gay marriage columns will be more creative than the tired ‘Let them suffer like the rest of us’ ‘punchline’”. Sadly, I have used this line in my personal life. I deeply regret using such a tired cliché.

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