Don't support society's harm

Son of Thunder

By John Brannon

The following is the second half of John Brannon’s column “Don’t hate me because I’m dissident,” which appeared in the Feb. 18 issue of The Collegian.

I’ve had about as much as I can take, and I feel there is a frivolous claim made in America that needs addressing.

Many people in the homosexual lobby believe President Bush and his “right wing Christian” supporters are declaring a war on gay marriage rights without the support of those in the United States.

They say many are in favor of gay marriage. But take a look at what the polls say. Recently, Gallup as well as Time/CNN have conducted a few polls regarding gay marriage and civil unions.

The first question asked, “Would you favor or oppose a law that would allow homosexual couples to legally get married, or do you not have an opinion either way?” Any idea what Americans had to say? Fifty-three percent said they opposed a law legalizing the marriage of homosexual couples.

That doesn’t seem like a big number until you consider that only 24 percent said they were in favor of such a law. To a similar question, Time/CNN found 62 percent of those polled were against legalizing same-sex marriage, compared to 30 percent who were in favor.

The second question asked, “Would you favor or oppose a law that would allow homosexual couples to legally form civil unions, giving them some of the legal rights of married couples, or do you not have an opinion either way?” This time, only 41 percent of Americans said they were opposed to such a law. But just 34 percent said they were in favor.

Many Americans support gay marriage? I guess that depends on your definition of “many”. But if “many” support gay marriage, then I guess “many” Americans are confident in the economy (37 percent), “many” Californians supported Cruz Bustamante for governor (32 percent), “many” people believe that partial-birth abortion should generally be legal (20 percent), and “many” people would like to go back to riding around in a horse drawn carriage—well, maybe two people anyway.

But even beyond the polls and what polls tell us that the majority of Americans actually believe, there are other reasons for denying marriage and marriage benefits to same-sex couples.

First of all, it affects the financial stability of married couples. Giving equal benefits to same-sex couples would force insurance companies to give equal premiums to people involved in high-risk sexual behavior. This will cost those insurance companies plenty of money when one considers the greater likelihood of homosexuals (especially homosexual males) contracting hepatitis, AIDS and numerous types of cancer.

But as we all know, insurance companies aren’t going to take any of the financial burdens upon themselves. They will instead pass it on to the rest of Americans, forcing all married couples to pay a higher cost for health insurance. This, I believe, tends to go against the argument that the homosexual lifestyle doesn’t infringe upon anyone else.

Secondly, if we are going to give marriage benefits to same-sex couples, then what’s to stop anyone from getting marriage benefits. Consider that one of the arguments made by same-sex marriage proponents is that we shouldn’t withhold rights from people based upon the way they choose to live their life. But what if my lifestyle choice is celibacy? Shouldn’t a single person who chooses celibacy be afforded the same rights as a person who chooses to get married?

Finally, why should Americans support marriage equality for a lifestyle that reduces one’s lifespan by as much as much as 40 percent? Why should Americans support marriage equality for a lifestyle “in which nearly all the participants are engaged in contact with human waste?” (Earle Fox)

Why should Americans support marriage equality for a lifestyle that is in clear contrast to the natural male and female sexual make-up? And why should Americans support marriage equality for a lifestyle that is self-destructive to those who practice homosexuality and costly to the taxpayers who do not?

What the homosexual lobby has thus far failed to realize is that their actions do have an effect on everyone, whether they like it or not. If we all lived in separate vacuums, then it would be safe to say that our actions do not affect the lives of anyone other than ourselves.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where innocent people are all too often hurt and even killed by the careless actions of others, and where seemingly harmless decisions quickly ruin people’s lives. We live in a world where what we do will be passed down to those who will follow us. But I hope that it will never be said of this generation that we passed down to our children a tradition of encouraging behavior that will hurt both themselves and others.

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