I Bet We Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Support Gay Marriage

Hello Friends,

First things first, I have a little housekeeping item to discuss.  I'm giving up on the weekly schedule until I reach a point that I have regular readers.  I'll try to keep up 3 postings a week, but it's fairly difficult to do when I'm sick, as I have been lately.  I hope to one day have a cache of written but not published articles that I can schedule to post to make this easier.  In the meantime, though, I recommend clicking the "follow" button so the system will notify you when I post something new and nifty to read.

Now on with the show!  I recently joined a group on Facebook called "I bet we can find 1,000,000 people who support gay marriage."  It turns out, they were right; they did it in ten days!  I should say "we did it" since it's through the network of supporters that we accomplished this feat.  I'm personally very proud of the many people in my circle who joined, and I'm proud to be a member of a group so dedicated to equality. (Note: the attached link is to the group page, and there is a link to a survey on the left side)

In addition to the myriad of emotional appeals for equality out there, I wish to add my voice to the din.  I will not argue today on the morals, ethics or natural aspects of this issue.  I will not give some heartfelt plea for justice based on a desire for everyone to be able to marry for love.  These things touch me and I have made the arguments time and again.  Today, though, I will argue from a legal, Constitutional stance.

In America, a legal marriage is simply a contract into which two people enter that gives each member specific rights and responsibilities as a spouse.  As an example, you get the rights of succession and next of kin, but you are also responsible for debt incurred by the other party and acting as medical power of attorney.  There are very few rules regarding legal marriage, and most of them relate to whether or not you are fit to enter into any legal contract (e.g. age of consent).  Our government does not test the merit of your relationship before allowing you to enter this contract, nor does it set rules for non-governmental organizations and churches as to whom they can and cannot marry ceremonially.

Based on this background, I've heard no valid, legal arguments against allowing homosexual marriage in America.  Sure, I've heard arguments that we need to legally define marriage as between a man and a woman, but that law does not exist today nor has it gained much suppport when presented in the past.

I've heard arguments that we need the laws to "protect the sanctity of marriage", but in that instance, I would want to see laws that apply to heterosexual couples.  For example, in our country, we have the highest divorce rate in the world; our divorce rate would make some countries hide in shame, and it causes some religions to view us as a nation of careless liars who see every commitment as temporary.  Divorce is the single greatest destroyer of wealth in our country.  If we want to bring down the divorce rate, then instead of punishing a group of individuals who currently are not part of that horrific number, perhaps we should impose penalties on divorce plaintiffs (except in cases of abuse, etc).

I'm not seriously suggesting that we start punishing people for divorce.  I personally don't care what the rest of the world believes, and if you can afford a divorce and want one, I don't believe you should be forced to remain married to someone against your will.  I'm simply trying to show that banning gay marriage is not going to bring down the heterosexual divorce rate whereas other laws might prove more useful to achieve this objective.

Finally, our Constitution guarantees all Americans the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness.  I know of very few people who wouldn't consider the pursuit of love, marriage and family a part of this inalienable right, and I have never seen any part of the Constitution that says "unless you're gay".  Therefore, I personally believe and pray that our courts uphold gay marriage as a Constitutionally guaranteed right.

If you have a valid legal argument against gay marriage, I would love to hear it.  I am not saying I will turn my back on what I believe to be a human rights issue, but I have issued this challenge in other forums and have yet to receive a good response.  As a former debate team captain, I love a good academic argument and welcome the challenge.  At the very least, it would help to know what we're up against.

I sincerely hope this issue can soon be put to rest, with my fellow Americans able to wed as they please.  If you are against gay marriage and have made it this far through my arguments, I give you full-credit for listening to the other side, and I'll leave you with one final thought: with the responsibilities laden on spouses and the expensive nature of divorce, are you willing to marry casually just because you're allowed?

Take care of each other,
MK