Gay Marriage

Okay, I have taken the coward's way out on this blog and stayed away from this subject.  After all, it did not affect me directly and I could wait until the country makes up its mind.  That is cowardly.  My position, although not on this blog, has always been that gays being married did not diminish me as a person.  Bigotry and murder, however, diminish me if I don't speak up.  For that reason, I am taking a stand.



Before I do, let me say that I generally vote more right than left.  I have a big problem with most of the so-called liberal agenda.  I like Mr. Obama but never voted for him and believe his politics wrong for the country.  That being said, the so-called conservative stance against gay marriage and even gays themselves is wrong.  It isn't right, it defies the equal protection amendment to the constitution and (I think) is un-Christian.

Gay marriage should be allowed.  Our tax code and our society's advantage is overwhelmingly for married couples.  Single people pay a much larger tax rate, for example.  Corporate insurance benefits often do not translate to non-married couples, gay or hetero.  Not allowing gay couples the same benefits as hetero couples is wrong and against the principles of our founding constitution and the 14th amendment.

It can be argued that gay marriage and hetero cohabitation should be categorized as civil unions.  I would be okay with that.  The fact is, however, that using civil unions to right this wrong would require far more legislative intervention than eliminating any bar on what constitutes a marriage.  Every statute that touched on marriage would have to be investigated and altered to afford the same rights to civil unions.  Maybe we need to classify that marriage is between two humans to avoid allowing someone to claim her/his dog as a dependent but no more than that.

I know that many of the churches, Catholic and Protestant, disagree with this.  The plain fact, however, is that a significant majority doesn't care.  Let gays enjoy the same benefits as the rest of us for maintaining and holding together a sustainable relationship.  It is good for them and for the country.

We are the land of the free.  Let's start recognizing that.

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