Yesterday the D.C. council voted to legalize same-sex marriage in the district. A second vote is scheduled for two weeks which could allow it to become a law. Many church groups who are opposed to the bill feel that they are running out of time to stop the bill. As for the gay community, they feel it is a huge leap forward.
It's shocking that in this current day and time we are still debating an issue such as this: "Should gay people be allowed to marry legally?" I feel that we should be asking, "Why shouldn't they?" The number one response you will get from a person who opposes the issue is that marriage is between one man and one woman, taken from the United States constitution. The second response you are most likely to get is that being gay is forbidden, according to the bible. Coming in third, you will often hear that marriage is meant for those who procreate. All of the above are archaic, uneducated and let's not forget religiously motivated responses. What ever happened to all men are created equal? What saddens me the most is that 70% of Americans are for gay rights but when it comes to gay marriage that same 70% are against it. Maybe the secret to solving this issue lies in the lack of education in the subject. I hope that all who oppose gay marriage understands that it is not a choice to be gay. I don't think that anyone would choose to be the minority who cannot peacefully exist. People are born gay and if you believe in creation then you must accept that God made them this way.
I strongly believe that being homosexual derives from a deep biological basis that causes a persons brain to differ from that of a heterosexual. According to Natalie Angier from the New York Times, "A cord of nerve fibers that allow the two halves of the brain to communicate with each other is larger in homosexual men than it is in either heterosexual men or in women, scientists have reported. I've heard that if it was a genetic mutation then over time the natural instinct to procreate would weed out the "gay gene". My answer to that is for hundreds of years people have been born with down syndrome and thousands of others unable to procreate. Why hasn't evolution weeded them out? No matter what your beliefs are we do not have the right to judge how anyone lives their life. We also need to understand that by prohibiting any group a privilege that all others have is discrimination, a word that carries much weight. I imagine that one day we will all look back at this issue with regret and remorse just like we do today with slavery.
