Both of the VP candidates said they opposed “gay” marriage. (This term suggests that “gay” marriage is different than “straight” marriage.) Biden went so far as to say that he supported civil unions and other rights (i.e. hospital visitation) for gay couples that are equivalent to the rights of couples that have different genitalia.
So, Biden supports equal rights for boys that like to kiss boys, but wants to have separate legal structures for people that happen to love someone of the same gender.
If this sounds familiar to you, that’s because we tried this system before. Blacks were not allowed to enjoy the same legal status as whites, but the ever-so-kind white folks said that blacks could have equivalent schools and rights. How well did that plan work?
Marriage has at least two components: one spiritual and one legal. The government should not be involved in defining marriage in religion. But, the government should not deny rights to a group of people simply because some religions think that gay people are icky.
Marriage, in the legal sense, is about property rights, contractual rights, inheritance rights, and parental rights. Discrimination based on sexual activity is absurd: it says that some mothers are better than other mothers simply based on the gender of the people they love.
Please, someone tell me: if a man loves a man, why does that mean he is a worse father?
You know, back before law school, I used to think that all “marriage” in a legal sense should be called civil unions… leave the word marriage to religion entirely. Gay, straight, whatever, it would be called a civil union in the eyes of the law.
However, after some thought and discussion, my mind was changed. Part of what makes marriage so special is the word and all that comes with it. It means acceptance and tradition and recognition. Taking the word away does make a huge difference.
Without the word marriage and the institution for everyone, it IS separate but equal and I think that’s fundamentally wrong.
You have put my views into far fewer words than I susally do. Thank you… must link this on my LJ…