Gay Marriage

Do you know who I love? Jon Stewart. He's hilarious and his show is just awesome. So's his book, by the way.

So on his show yesterday, he had a guest come on and talk about how gay marriage is bad. The thing about The Daily Show is that Jon doesn't pretend to be objective...he goes after the conservatives, lets the liberals off easy, and makes fun of everyone. It's great.
But Jon is still quite articulate (and eloquent) when it comes to going toe-to-toe with the conservatives. Take this little quip as an example (from memory, not verbatim):

Talking head: "The gay marriage debate is about defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman."

JS: "I disagree. The gay marriage debate is about defining homosexuality as a part of the human condition."


Bam. And in that one sentence, he shuts the guy up. I haven't heard one good argument, not one, articulating why gay people shouldn't be married. Most of the reasons to ban gay marriage that I've heard go something like this:

1. Gay people are bad.
2. Marriage is the most fundamental institution in the history of mankind (which is totally untrue, by the way. Slavery is more fundamental than marriage in the history of mankind!).
3. God/the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong and so therefore they shouldn’t be allowed to marry. (ummm…separation of church and state, people?)

None of these arguments present a good, solid reason why marriage is a right that shouldn’t be extended to all Americans.

When I was in grade school and learned about the civil rights movement for the first time, I remember doing the math in my head and realizing that my parents were in their early 20’s during that time. And I remember vividly going home and asking them what they had thought of that period of time. I remember wanting them to tell me that they had fought for civil rights – and that they hadn’t been on what I considered the wrong side of the fence.

I believe that the gay marriage argument is part of a continuum of progression in the “human condition,” just like civil rights and women’s suffrage.

I really believe that our children will judge us based on our views in this battle. I want to be prepared and proud of my answer when they ask.

I believe that it matters not only what we think but what we DO about it. We have to vote. We have to give time or money or both to the causes we believe in. And we have to do it vocally so that others know where we stand.

Like Jon said, the decision on gay marriage has already been decided. It’s coming, whether the conservatives like it or resist it with silly attempts at constitutional amendments. The real question is – which citizens will stand up and vocally support the movement, help it gain momentum, help it happen sooner and which ones will sit back and wait for it to happen?