Same-Sex marriage progressive step

By Thomas Gaffery

A little while ago, my boyfriend and I sat down to enjoy dinner and watch President Bush’s State of the Union Address. During the speech, we learned that Bush hates us because we are gay. Bush then indicated that he will fight to stop the movement for same-sex marriage and would like to be remembered in history as a president who recommended the Constitutional Amendment process as a way to limit the rights of Americans. Polls following the State of the Union Address show that a majority of Americans oppose amending the Constitution.

Bush’s speech echoed the words of his right-wing Christian financiers and not the opinions of most Americans. Polls show that many Americans favor gay marriage. Bush speaks of the importance of protecting the religious “sanctity” of marriage—obviously only respecting the separation of church and state when it is convenient for his agenda.

Same-sex couples do not want a government-mandated religious marriage ceremony—we want the same legal protections as heterosexual married couples. Gay couples encounter difficulties in many everyday legal matters: hospital visitations, child custody and numerous other issues. The General Accounting Office reports more than 1,000 specific rights are denied to same-sex couples. Same-sex couples are denied basic rights such as filing a joint tax return and collecting social security survivor benefits. Same-sex couples may not apply for benefits under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

The actions of Bush and his cohorts do not only hurt gay couples, but also their families. The 2000 census data reports that more than 1 million children are being raised by same sex couples. Bush’s actions hurt these children in numerous socioeconomic and psychological ways. Same-sex parents must fight numerous expensive legal hurdles in order to obtain joint adoptions.

Unlike heterosexual parents, same-sex parents are compelled to carry numerous legal documents with them at all times to prove their adoptive status. The president has chosen to present same-sex couples in a negative light, while in the process, leaving children of same-sex couples caught in the middle of his tirade of hate.

These horrendous inequalities could change with the legalization of gay marriage.

Since marriage laws are not in place, basic rights are often arbitrarily disregarded by governmental institutions. Partners are often denied hospital visitation rights—a particularly cruel policy in a time of emotional distress.

Each year, numerous cases are reported of gross neglect by police officers in cases of same-sex domestic violence. Often, police officers make no arrest and contend the incident was “mutual combat”, in other situations. Both partners are arrested and then locked in the same holding cell where the physical and emotional abuse will continue unchecked while in police custody.

Canada and many European nations have already legalized same-sex marriage. Data collected from these nations disprove many of the accusations made by the radical right.

Legalizing same-sex marriage does not encourage homosexuality and does not lead to more homosexuals—it simply allows people to lead their lives as they see fit. America is the next frontier for the legalization of same-sex marriage. It is our civic duty to select and lobby politicians who will further extend the civil right of marriage to all Americans.

— This columnist can be reached at collegian@csufresno.edu