My stand on Gay Marriage

Gay Marriage – the subject draws comments and responses from everyone. It’s an idea that elicits emotion from some, an opinion from most and ambivalence from a few.

Washington state appears to be the seventh state in the country to legalize the marital union of any adult with any other adult.

Just the idea of gay marriage brings gut reaction from religious conservatives who view the concept with disgust and disdain. As far as they’re concerned, gay marriage disrupts biblical teaching and goes against the edicts of god.

For liberals, the idea that a man could wed a man or a woman could wed a woman is less a question of religious teaching and more a question of equal rights.

Over the past 60 years we’ve had many battles over equal rights. The civil rights movement had many distractors who pointed to the bible in justifying previous discrimination against people of color.

The women’s movement brought out many of the same arguments; that the bible instructed women to obey their husbands and take a role submissive to him.

Over and over again different sections of American society have rebelled against the constraints placed upon them by society. And, those opposed often used the bible as the reason for any perceived discrimination.

Gay rights may be the last bastion of legal discrimination left in American society. Are the rights of gay people in the same category as women or people of color? For many people, that seems to be the big question.

For others, the idea of marriage, in any other form than a man and a woman smacks of government run amuck.

Americans. when given the opportunity, have rejected gay marriage at the polls. Whether or not their vote is a question of firm belief or a question of education remains unanswered.

Our political leaders have established the game now. Gay marriage will soon be the law in Washington. Voters will soon have their say because there’s no doubt a referendum will be filed to overturn the legislative decision.

I won’t sign the petition and if it makes the ballot, I won’t vote for the referendum.

I think who an adult enters into a legal contract with is no business of government and as far as I’m concerned marriage is a legal contract.

It’s that simple for me.