Published: July 17, 2008 11:25 pm         

Gay couples should be treated like everyone else

If we wish to save marriage we should focus on the appalling divorce rate, domestic violence, and our inability to communicate with each other.

We cannot use our religious beliefs to defend our own ignorance and bigotry. If your religious beliefs condemn homosexuality then those are issues between you and your personal spirituality. Many Americans feel their religious beliefs do not contradict or condemn homosexuality which is their right to believe in a country with freedom of religion.

It is in our constitution that all men are created equal and that we have a right to religious freedom. It’s not rational to create a law based on a religious belief that would treat gay Americans unequal to straight Americans.

In this country I can work on Sundays, get divorced, eat pork and be sexually active without marriage. After all that I can still marry like everyone else. Gay marriage has no adverse affects on heterosexual marriages, children, or the state’s economy.

In fact the state gets more money from more people getting married. As for the argument that gay marriage will lead to polygamy or bestiality, we can look back and see the same arguments were being used to keep interracial couples from marring.

It wasn’t until 1967 when the Supreme Court struck down laws restricting marriage based on race in Loving v. Virginia. That case took place 19 years after California struck down such laws in Perez v. Sharp in 1948. I hope it doesn’t take as long for gay couples to be treated equally.

Increasing the amount of recognized monogamous couples with today’s turbulent marriages can only strengthen our resolve towards having monogamous relationships. What we are talking about is two consensual adults. Neither animals nor children have the right to consent in our country, so there isn’t a threat of bestiality or marriages to children.

In conclusion, if you do not believe in gay marriage then don’t marry someone of the same sex. You have no right to dictate whether or not two consenting adults can marry.

Brett Stump

New Creek W.Va.