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<td width="343" valign="bottom"><p class="date"><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="date" --><a href="default.html">2/20/04• Vol.
128, No. 12</a><!-- InstanceEndEditable --></p></td>
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<p><span class="homeheadlines"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><a href="brannon.jsp">Don't
support society's harm</a></font></span></p>
<p><span class="homeheadlines"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><a href="letters.jsp">Letters
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<h1><font size="5" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">Don't support society's harm</font></h1>
<p><strong>Son of Thunder</strong></p>
<p class="byline"><strong><font size="5" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><strong><img src="brannonmug.jpg" alt="" name="Photo" width="74" height="109" border="2" style=""></strong></font></strong></p>
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<p class="byline"> By John Brannon<strong><font size="5" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"></font></strong></p>
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<p class="storyText"><strong><font size="5" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"></font></strong></p>
<p class="storyText">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. </p>
<p class="storyText"> I’ve had about as much as I can take, and I feel there is a frivolous
claim made in America that needs addressing.</p>
<p class="storyText"> 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.</p>
<p class="storyText"> 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. </p>
<p class="storyText"> 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. </p>
<p class="storyText"> 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.</p>
<p class="storyText"> 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. </p>
<p class="storyText"> 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. </p>
<p class="storyText"> 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.</p>
<p class="storyText"> 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. </p>
<p class="storyText"> 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.</p>
<p class="storyText"> 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?</p>
<p class="storyText"> 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) </p>
<p class="storyText"> 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? </p>
<p class="storyText"> 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.</p>
<p class="storyText"> 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.</p>
<p class="storyText"> —
This columnist can be reached at collegian@csufresno.edu</p>
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