It's A Personal Attack

Tens of thousands of people in cities across the country turned out in support of gay marriage yesterday, one of the largest show of support since Prop 8 made same-sex marriage illegal in California. Signs like the one pictured and slogans like "Yes we will" and "We want our rights" were echoed in the streets of several US cities including Philadelphia, where several thousand gathered. In Las Vegas, comedian Wanda Sykes surprised a crowd of more than 1,000 rallying outside a gay community center by announcing that she is gay and had wed her wife in California on Oct. 25. Sykes said that, “I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked — our community was attacked.”

A personal attack? Yes, a personal attack! These constitutional amendments, also put in place in Florida and Arizona on November 4, 2008, add discrimination to a state's constitution! That's all there is to it. Instead of advancing civil rights for its citizens, these amendments take a certain group and prevent them from their right to happiness. (If you can define marriage as "happiness." Some do). So if a certain State decided it no longer thought women should vote, it could, by passing an amendment to its constitution, take away a woman's right to vote? One does not have to agree with, or approve of gay marriage, but same-sex marriage is in no way a threat to heterosexual marriage. Marriages have been changed throughout history, so don't tell me allowing gay couples to marry is redefining marriage. It wasn't until the late 1960's that all states had to permit interracial marriage, and if it were up to some states today, couples of different races would still not be allowed to wed. This is some of the basis for at least three legal challenges put to the court seeking Prop 8 not be allowed into law! Doesn't the US Constitution guarantee that States cannot implement discrimination?

Do I as a gay man want to get married? It's not a question of do I want to get married, but am I legally permitted to get married. It's not a question of does someone need to be married to be happy, can anyone be married to achieve their goal of happiness. Anyone in the US who wants to be married has that right!