Can I Vote on Your Marriage?

Photo from source, Newsweek

I remember having an argument with a conservative radio host via the KXNT-AM message boards a few years ago, when Nevada had a "protect marriage" amendment on the ballot. Her name was Heidi Harris, and she was getting married, and had been talking about it a lot on the radio. At the same time, she was decrying "gay marriages" as some sort of assault on marriage in general. Of course, she used a religious argument.

A question I posed to her--which was not adequately answered--was, "What if I belonged to a religion that YOU did not agree with, and I tried to outlaw YOUR marriage?" The argument fizzled out, as did their message board, and Nevada ultimately outlawed same-sex marriage. Nevada. Home of the quickie marriage and the quickie divorce.

The Other Half and I got married in California soon after it was made legal. It holds no legal status in our state, but we thought it was important to make it legal somewhere. Who knows what could happen down the road, so it was a step in making our relationship legal--somewhere--for the future. Tens (hundreds?) of thousands of other same-sex couples have done the same.

And now, California has a ballot measure to take those marriages away. This is distinctly different from preventing same-sex marriage. It is taking an existing right away. For the first time, we're not talking in hypotheticals. Gay marriage is already legal. None of the scary scenarios the anti-gay rights folks predicted happened. But now scare tactics (and hacker attacks to the NoOnProp8 website) are being employed to cloud the issue.

It is worth pointing out that in the United States, civil rights issues are generally not up for a popular vote. If the right for women to vote, the right for blacks to vote, or the right for interracial couples to marry were put up to a vote, they very likely would not have passed. So why is the right for same-sex marriage being endangered by mob rule?

If you are in California, and on the fence on this issue, I urge you to read the following excerpted story, and vote "NO" on Proposition 8. And if you are a voter anywhere who is against this measure, I urge you to vote for Barack Obama, to prevent a conservative-stacked Supreme Court, in whose arena this issue will likely ultimately land. Thank you.

[Excerpt]

Will My Marriage Last?

. . .Few newlyweds enter a marriage with such low expectations (except for maybe Britney Spears, whose 2004 Vegas quickie was annulled after two days). But my new spouse, Jeff Bechtloff, and I are gay men living in California. And like thousands of couples who've tied the knot since the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage this spring, we rushed to get wed before voters could decide on Nov. 4 whether or not we should. . .

Read more at: Newsweek