During President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union speech Tuesday night, he discussed gay marriage and equality. For the first time in United States history, a president used the word ‘transgender’ in a State of the Union address. If you watched online, a graphic showed 36 states that allow or would soon allow gay marriage. Michigan was not one of them.
It sometimes feels as if we live in the Twilight Zone, where two people who love each other are unable to marry because of…why? The sanctity of marriage? The generation currently in charge of legislation has a divorce rate of approximately 50 percent; marriage doesn’t feel too sacred. Because gay couples are unable to procreate? There are almost 18 million children in the world who are waiting for someone to adopt them. The reasons given by the anti-gay lobby are quickly hit straight back at them, and really only serves to make those opposed to gay marriage look like stupid bigots.
What someone does behind closed doors is his or her own business, but for some reason they are still having to ask permission to do so.
If any church doesn’t want to allow gay marriage, that is their prerogative. However, since we DON’T live in a theocracy, the church should have no sway in the decisions of the state. I say should because we can all see the farce that is called separation of church and state.
But people are scared of change. In Minnesota, 1970, a gay couple brought the state to court when they were denied a marriage license. The state cited the book of Genesis as a reason to not allow the couple to marry. The state cited the Bible. This court case, from 1970, was used most recently as precedent for the 2014 U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on same-sex marriage, which affected Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky (an appeal made by the Attorney General of Michigan, Bill Schuette, who surprisingly now is encouraging the Supreme Court to settle the issue at the national level).
The Supreme Court, 40 years ago, said same-sex marriage wasn’t of federal concern. Because of this, any “inferior” court, at least according to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, can’t make a judgement, which now has effectively made a federal non-issue into an issue.
But there is hope. Recently, the Supreme Court announced they would hear the Michigan case on same-sex marriage in April. Which would set new precedent on any future case. The decision still sits precariously on a precipice. A few of the Supreme Court justices feel that the courts shouldn’t rule on policy making, which includes same-sex marriage, that it should be up to elected officials. In some aspects I agree with this, states rights and all.
However, this isn’t about policy. This is about civil rights. Any ban on freedom imposes on the rights of the individuals of the United States. The Supreme Court, apparently unbeknownst to them, is the last word for upholding the U.S. Constitution and the rights of the citizens.
“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” It is a privilege to marry someone you love.
This is strongly worded, I know. Not the tactic to change people’s minds. But what I’m saying, and maybe I can sugarcoat this, is those opposed to gay marriage need to take a deep breath and relax. It’ll only hurt for a second.
