Straight Eye For The Queer Guy... and Gal

July 15 2004
Counterbias.com
Doug Griffin
S T R A I G H T   T A L K

Gays have the right to marry.  There is no argument.  There is no issue of morality.  And more importantly, gay marriage is in absolutely no way a threat to traditional, heterosexual marriages.

Get over it!

The Sanctity of it all

“Same-sex marriage will destroy the sanctity of the institution of marriage."

Bullshit!

As Senator Barbara Boxer explained, if our marriages are in trouble because our neighbor next door or down the street is allowed to marry his or her same-sex partner, we’ve got more important personal issues to attend to.

Why does it matter to us if Ann and Jan or Larry and Barry are married to each other?

Let’s face it, heterosexuals, we haven’t exactly been the best custodians of the sanctity of marriage.  We are known to abuse, lie to, and cheat on our spouses -- and we get divorces.  In some cases, we heteros even murder our significant others for insurance money, or because we want to be with a stripper instead; or both.  This new found 'love' for the institution of marriage is nothing more than hypocrisy.

There is no real moral reason to ban same-sex marriage.  End of story.

Ignorance and Stupidity

Conservatives are pushing for a Constitutional amendment because of their ignorance of what the Constitution of the United States of America stands for.  The Constitution is a living document made to define and give rights to Americans, not take them away. 

You may or may not realize this, but it has only been in the last 10 years that people of different ethnic backgrounds could legally marry in some states.  Some of the same opponents of gay marriage are probably still a little ticked-off about that too.

Opponents of gay marriage seem to think our traditional marriages are going to lose value if gay couples are afforded the same rights as we are. 

Here’s some advice: Take some responsibility for your own marriage.  That’s the only way your marriage has any real value, anyway.  If your marriage loses its sanctity because gays are able to marry, it probably didn’t have it in the first place.

If you’re so worried about the gay couple down the street, maybe you have some demons or perhaps even tendencies that you’re worried about.  

A confident heterosexual man shouldn’t be worried whether or not two homosexual men or women are married, in love, living together.

I singled out men because, so far, the loudest voices I’ve heard against same-sex marriage have been us – the macho men.  Same for banning abortion, ironically.

How stupid can we get, guys?  How does what two consenting adults do together have anything to do with you, me or anyone else?  Whose rights are being violated by allowing same-sex marriage, anyway?

“My right not to see two men walking down the street holding hands with wedding bands on.  That’s what right is being violated!”

Here’s another compassion lesson.

First off… it ain’t always about you!  My wife and I spend a lot of time in the gym and are in fairly good shape.  What if we were offended about how out of shape you and your wife might look?  No one’s proposing a constitutional amendment to ban overweight couples from getting married.  Or unattractive couples… Or nerdy couples… Or couples where one person has curly hair and the other has straight hair…

You get the point.  I hope.  It’s just like anything else – television, radio.  If you don’t like what you’re looking at, look at something else. 

What offends me may not necessarily offend you or the next guy.  Just because you don’t agree with something doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve equal protection.  I absolutely and categorically do not agree with anything the Ku Klux Klan has to say, but I will defend their right to say it, even though, as an African-American, I find it incredibly offensive!  I don’t agree with Louis Farrakhan either, but he’s got the right to speak his opinions.

We have the right to disagree with anything.  However, we do not have the right to stifle or prohibit something simply because we do not like or do not agree with it.

Just look at the history of civil rights in this country.  African-Americans were slaves.  Someone thought this was a concept worth fighting for.  Women have only had the right to vote within the last 80 years in some states. 

Do you know how these things came to change?  By amending the Constitution to grant basic human rights to members of the citizenry who did not have them before.  The only time amendments to the Constitution revoke rights are when those rights infringe on the rights of others… like slavery and keeping blacks and women from voting.

Our right not to see or hear something that offends us cannot be infringed because we can always choose to look or listen elsewhere. 

Nobody’s forcing anyone to have a same-sex marriage.  We will still be as free as we ever were to marry and divorce as many members of the opposite sex as we wish. 

You might want to re-visit those tendencies I mentioned earlier if you protest too much louder, though.

Finally, who the hell died and made you God? 

Why does anyone have the right to determine whether or not gay men and women can marry their significant others?

My bad… I forget that God called George to be President and as it has often been reported, his decisions do come from On High.

God told George to keep those homos from gettin’ hitched!  And by God, George'll be goddamned if he doesn’t try!  

Even if it does only serve to further polarize the country in the hopes of saving his presidency.

Has any married heterosexual out there ever found himself or herself arguing with his or her spouse about how gay rights are ruining the marriage?  My wife and I have argued about a lot of things and not one time has the spectre of gay marriage ever been the source of friction.

The real threat to the sanctity of is adultery.  I don’t hear anyone pushing for a Constitutional ammendment to ban philandering.

The one thing my wife and I argue most about is money – or the lack of it. 

Somehow, I just don’t see amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage as any radical economic reform either.