A meaningful fight
When I saw the Facebook invite complaining about the ‘Weighing both sides of gay marriage’ article in the September 28 Technician I was annoyed because I assumed someone had been misquoted and it was all getting blown out of proportion. However, after reading the article I have to say I am so glad this was brought to my attention.
Ms. Kelly’s argument that marriage should be left to the church is valid and one that I respect. The United States has no right to put its nose into church’s business; but the U.S. does have the explicit right to grant to ALL of its people the right to share your life with whomever you chose; this includes hospital visits, medical benefits, adoption, and the other 1,049 benefits awarded to married couples.
She says that, ‘For centuries, homosexuality has been an issue’. For who? She stated correctly that she isn’t a biologist but apparently she hasn’t had an history course either (I suggest HI 207 with Dr. Parker, it’s a great class). Homosexuality has been widely accepted in some of the greatest civilizations throughout history. It wasn’t an issue for them, but rather part of their lives.
She is correct in saying that two members of the same sex can’t procreate (and lets not forget that it is straight people making the gay babies, so blame yourselves not us) but she’s highly mistaken in thinking that animals do no exhibit homosexual behavior (another course suggestion: Bio 105, it’s for the non-science majors). Perhaps the most famous example of homosexuality amongst animals is the bonobos. They are apes that live in a matriarchal society and both the males and females are bisexual. If you had to be married to have kids then I’m sure most of us wouldn’t be here right now. Marriage is about showing the world the commitment you’re making to one person for the rest of your life and being able to enjoy the security you get from this bond; so I’m really not sure why she decided to add that to her argument.
She makes another good point, although it’s hidden underneath her offensive and embarrassing attitude. By allowing gay marriage it will probably spark more people to shout out for equal treatment; including the still ongoing battle for equal treatment in the workplace for women. But like she said, these laws are really just a nuisance for us and shouldn’t be tolerated, our courts have much more important things to do. I was raised Southern Free Will Baptist and I have absolutely heard that no sin is greater than another. But after all my years in a Baptist church (about 19), there are some rules you don’t hear about; one they don’t like to you to dwell on is in Leviticus 19:19, ‘Ye shall keep my statuses. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.’ So as we come into these winter months, I hope Ms. Kelly does not plan on wearing her Ugg boots and jean shorts because as she has already said, sin is sin.
I am embarrassed to have this article act as a representation of our school and hope that anyone who reads it will not think this is how we are treating anyone different from the norm. Ms. Kelly chose a very inopportune time to print her article, for it comes on the heels of many suicides by members of the GLBT community over the past weeks including Seth Walsh (13), Billy Lucas (15), Ahser Brown (13) and Tyler Clementi (18). I like to hope Emily didn’t think her article was about more than gay marriage, and that she doesn’t see how opinions like hers seep through our entire culture and encourage hate even more. I may seem like someone who is angry and looking for a fight, but I’m not. I would love nothing more than to sit down with Emily and talk to her about the troubles facing GLBT people and hopefully show her that we aren’t people looking for trouble. We’ve had more casualties in a war we never wanted, but with each person we lose it just makes us that much more determined. Their sacrifice is what fuels us, and our fire is burning brighter than ever.
Zach McKinney
junior, science education
