Should Gays Marry?
Yesterday there was a GLBT rally in Alamogordo calling for the legal right to marry. Most passing by waved in support(with all five fingers), but some were not so supportive. Our local Alamogordo News online forum also had some interesting comments. This is my reply to the anti-gays.
I will try and clarify the nature of inequality and the phrase, “equal rights for all” as guaranteed by the constitution. Equal rights for all really means equal (legal) rights for all citizens.
If a group is not granted equal rights, then no one in the United States has equal rights. One group has less rights than the other. If you have a right that another group does not have, then you are privileged over that other group.
White people are privileged over people of color because dark skinned people do not have the same access to institutions that white people have even though the law specifically states that they must. This also applies to poor white people, although they still feel privileged over colored people.
Gays do not have access to the institution of marriage, which is unconstitutional. The courts and anti-gays get caught up in semantics and biblical arguments, which muddies the water and is delaying equal rights to gay people. Remember that until gays get equal rights nobody has equal rights.
Straight white middle class people can really feel privileged and tend to cling to their status in spite of the inequality it supports. Some mentioned that they felt under attack and hurt.
I suspect that your “hurt” stems from your sense of impending loss of privilege. It is just a matter of time until you will all lose that sense of privilege.
Then we can turn back to the Equal Rights Amendment and get real equal rights for women. Then we will have lived up to our constitutional potential. Feeling privileged gives us a false sense of our importance.
