March 8, 2004 6:36 AM

In the end, it's about who calls the shots

What if we denied an entire group of people the same rights that you and I enjoy simply because of who they are? Oh, wait, wasn't that what the Civil Rights movement of the '60s was all about? Apparently, we haven't learned nearly as much from that experience as some of us might have hoped.

The issue of gay marriage is in reality only one symptom of our national disease, in which we think it perfectly acceptable to subjugate a group of people whose lifestyle (or philosophy, or political beliefs) we abhor. Not all that long ago, a similar battle was fought over interracial marriage. Those who opposed it felt that allowing interracial marriage would be the first step down the slippery slope toward the inevitable decline and fall of the social order as we then knew it. Strangely enough, though, once we got past that issue, nothing much changed. I'm beginning to wonder if gay marriage is really any different.

To honest, I really don't much care how anyone feels about gay marriage, because that's not what this is all about. This is about who gets to decide. Social and Religious Conservatives feel that it is their job (and right) as protectors of all that is Good and Normal to preserve the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. Homosexuals feel that they deserve the same legal rights and recognition that herterosexuals take for granted. They also believe that they have the same right to happiness and legitimacy. (Of course, once they find out about in-laws, will they REALLY be so eager to get married??)

I do find it interesting that when Bush v. Gore was decided by the US Supreme Court, both parties submitted to the judgement of the Court. Now that this same Court is disposed to looking favorably upon the Gay Rights movement, suddenly these same justices have become "judicial activists". The only difference is that Bush v. Gore gave Conservatives their desired result, and they are not experiencing the same vindication now. Of course, these same folks were probably crying "Foul!" when the Supreme Court threw out state bans on interracial marriage in 1967's Loving v. Virginia.

Social and Religious Conservatives may not recognize this reality, but they are in fact fighting a rearguard action. They will inevitably lose, because in the end, institutionalized discrimination cannot work. It did not work in Nazi Germany, it did not work in the former Yugoslavia, and it did not work in this country in the 1960s.

In the end, their will be no constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, because the process of amending the constitution is so onerous as to be virtually impossible. Gay marriage will eventually become an accepted part of the social landscape, and in perhaps 20-30 years, social historians will be wondering what all of the fuss was about.

This is the great thing about a free society. Once freedom is out of the bottle, you cannot put it back in. You cannot allow rights and benefits to one group and then deny them to another. Eventually, that group will organize and force change upon society, because those who oppose them have no valid moral or legal argument. You may not like it, but that is the way a truly free country works.

In the end, it will come down to a simple equation: if you oppose gay marriage, then don't marry one. In a truly free society, we should all have the right to live and love as we choose. Social and Religious Conservatives will no doubt see this as the latest example of why the Apocalypse is upon us, but this too shall fade from the national consciousness. Perhaps then we will finally be able to try to solve problems that truly ARE problems.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on March 8, 2004 6:36 AM.

If you want it done right, sometimes you just gotta do it yourself was the previous entry in this blog.

It must have been early; they still had their clothes on is the next entry in this blog.

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