My coworker Laura Dibbel publicly announced last semester that she's engaged to be married after graduation. The happiness granted to her family and her new in-laws brightened the office we all work in.
Likewise, we would all be outraged if policymakers stepped in and ripped that marriage apart.
In 2004, over 4,000 marriages were nullified when the California Supreme Court overturned the mayor's decision and essentially told thousands of individuals, "Yes, you were married. But you're gay, we changed our minds, and now you're not married anymore."
The lives of those once-married people may have been ruined - vows of love and eternal commitment were burned up in the zeal of a homophobic government.
If that had happened to little Laura, her young life would have been ruined too. Sobbing, lost, bewildered and suddenly single, her quarter-life crisis would be deciding whether or not the government sworn to protect her was actually keeping its side of the deal.
This nation at war spends over three billion dollars a day on destruction and murder in the name of democracy. According to Jeffrey Sachs at Scientific American magazine, three days' worth of that could practically end malaria and leprosy in third-world countries. It would even strike a heavy blow against the AIDS epidemic - something those same evil policymakers are immensely terrified of.
Isn't it time this country decided there are better things to worry about than who's getting married? Leave that for the National Inquirer.
A family member who's very important to me once presented the argument of the "destruction of the constitution": if you remove the premise of marriage being between a man and a woman, who's to stop three men from getting married? Or, later, those three men from marrying a dolphin?
Rub a dub dub.
Let's try turning the argument around.
If you can nullify a marriage after it happens, what's to stop policymakers from nullifying homosexuals' adopted children?
Do they go back to foster care?
What if it's their biological child?
For that matter, what about taking their homes (do you want them in your neighborhood?), their public service jobs (or working right next to you?), their medical coverage (you could get contaminated), or worse?
Why not just solve the problem this way: round up all the gays in the country and drag them for a few blocks behind the big red pickup trucks of the government.
That'll show 'em who messes with the constitution.
I'm reminded of another incident that so brazenly stole individuals' right to live - a Holocaust that killed millions of people in what many still believe was all a sham to increase sympathy for Jews enduring anti-Semitism.
Maybe it's time we had another cover up. Heil, red nation!
Last month, the California State Supreme Court unanimously voted to review the decision on six gay marriages addressing California's stance on marriage and unions. The case will not be heard for more than 90 days. Meanwhile, the struggle continues in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont.
Want to do something? Make your opinion on the California conflict heard. Write to: Supreme Court of California; 350 McAllister Street; San Francisco, CA 94102-4797.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
