With recent actions in California and Massachusetts, many people have been talking about same-sex marriages. If we continue to ban same-sex marriage, then we should consider prohibiting gays and lesbians from voting.
Why do people care if gays and lesbians marry?
Honestly, I am not sure that the people that object to gay marriage know why they care. However, there are some people that tried to articulate why they oppose it.
Campaign for California Families (CCF) is one of the two groups trying to get the courts in California to prevent gays from receiving marriage licenses. On their website, they don’t explain very well why they want to stop these marriages, but they do link to a long article by Anton Marco. He spends most of his time trying to tear down arguments that gays and lesbians have apparently made in favor of gay marriage. I was hard pressed to find an explicit reason why he wanted to prevent the marriages in the first place. It seems that one of his main problems is that he feels that gays and lesbians are more promiscuous than heterosexuals.
Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is the other group that has filed in California court to prevent gay marriages. On their website, they state very clearly and succinctly why they oppose gay marriage.
The family is the most basic unit of any society. Without healthy, functioning families, a culture cannot survive.
God has defined marriage as one man married to one woman.
This has been both the legal and traditional understanding of a marriage – literally – for millennia, since Eden.
Therefore, gays and lesbians are lacking moral character
CCF argued that gays should not be allowed to marry because of their increased promiscuity. Their promiscuity is obviously a sign of lower moral standards.
ADF again pointed out that gays and lesbians are breaking God’s law and the laws of all civilizations since Eden. Again, gays and lesbians are immoral and should not be allowed to marry.
Criminals cannot vote, why should gays?
In some states, once you are convicted of a felony, you can no longer vote. The thinking is that these convicted felons could attempt to subvert the government by voting for judges, sheriffs, and district attorneys that are less likely to send them to jail next time.
If gays are lacking proper moral character (like a convicted felon) why should they have the right to vote?
Can we trust gays at all?
Currently, felons have to wait at least 5 years before they can adopt. Should we only allow gays and lesbians to adopt if they have been straight for at least 5 years?
Many companies will not hire felons. Why should they trust gays and lesbians more than a drug dealer?
We don’t typically let felons into the military and we also don’t allow openly gay people in the military. Obviously both of these groups lack moral character.
What about bank loans and credit cards? Felons have a hard time getting credit. Why should we give credit to gays and lesbians? Whenever they default on their loans, we all have to pay for it.
We have done it before…
Lots of governments have successfully limited the rights of groups that lacked moral character. In the United States, we were able to keep blacks from marrying whites, from voting, and from getting the same services and education as whites. Many people argued that blacks were morally inferior to whites and did not deserve the same rights.
Let’s pretend
Let’s pretend that I think that all gays and lesbians generally lack the same moral character as heterosexuals. I still could not argue that we should deny rights to gays. The law does not allow us to deny rights to someone because they might not use their rights wisely. People with a 60 IQ still have the right to free speech. Racists can still vote. Drug users still have the right to legal consul.
The only way to remove a right from someone is to demonstrate that they committed a crime and that removing their rights is just. If someone litters, we don’t lock them in jail, remove their right to vote, or remove their right to free speech.
Homosexuality is not a crime
In the end, no matter what one thinks about the morality of homosexuality, it is not a crime. Gays and lesbians do not commit a crime by simply being gay. No government should deny rights to any citizen unless they have a reason based on the actions of the individual.
Overcome habit and think morally
Many people like to define marriage as “a union between a man and a woman” out of habit. They are not used to thinking of marriage as a relationship between two people that have made commitments to each other. In terms of government, those commitments are financial and protective. Overcome the habit of thinking of marriage as one man-one woman and it becomes clear that we should immediately recognize all same-sex marriages.
