I have been called upon to defend my statements here that are interpreted to support same sex marriage. The most adamant critics are asking about the religious implications. One statement was: Marriage is an institution that has existed for 5000 years, and now they want to change it. Another: It is an offense to people of faith to have the same designation as homosexuals.
I am surprised that the leadership of the Anti Prop 8 movement seems to be from the Mormon community. I know that more recently than 5000 years they have had to struggle with the definition of marriage within their faith, and everyone didn’t agree to one man and one woman. I don’t want to start a quarrel with the Latter Day Saints, but that beam in your own eye hasn’t been out long enough to open an optometry shop.
As regards the argument about being lumped together with people who are different, I go back to the response about racial marriage laws. In 1948 California made it legal for blacks and whites to marry each other. A hundred years before that Abe Lincoln made it legal for African Americans to marry each other anywhere in the US. But it wasn’t until 1967 that US law allowed interracial marriage. I know that sexual orientation isn’t the same as race. The point of the argument is that as our society progresses, we keep deciding to treat people like people. If we really want all people treated equally, let’s go ahead. If we want some people treated as “less than” equal, please send me a list. Lastly, I would like to quote something I read on the internet site Religioustolerance.org,
"I guess I just don't understand how people can be so passionately hateful about something that won't affect their lives one bit."