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Copyright
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Why
I made the t-shirt "...AND
MARRIAGE FOR ALL"
Mutually consenting adults should be free to do what they want, so long as it doesn't harm others. Gay marriage may offend the religious right, but it doesn't "harm" them. Everything offends some one. EQUAL RIGHTS 4 ALL!!! This is a no brainer, especially in a country that brags about how free it is. If two people mutually want to do something together, they should be able to do it as long as it doesn't harm others. The fact that Person A may be offended or disgusted by Person B's beliefs or behaviors cannot be construed to mean that such beliefs or behaviors "harm" Person A. If the reverse were true, then no one could do anything at all, since whatever they did would likely "harm" someone who was offended or disgusted. Sounds pretty free, huh? The logic that is used by those against same sex marriage is pretty backwards. It is similar to the logic of the hawks who think the "terrorists" hate Americans for their freedom. That statement only makes sense if you define the freedom of Americans as the right to dominate other countries or kill their ctizens trying to dominate them (see my shirt "They Hate US for Our Freedom" and the essay about that shirt). Um, do any other countries have this freedom? Didn't Germany used to have that freedom in the 1930's and 40's? Sounds like a bit of an exclusive freedom. Whatever happened to "...freedom for all"? In the case of same sex marriage, some Americans apparently have the freedom to tell other Americans who they can marry. That sounds about as fair as laws against interracial mariage. Not very fair, obviously, since laws preventing interracial marriage were struck down some years ago. I am a man who loves women, but it doesn't offend me that some men love other men and some women love other women. Even if it did offend me, that wouldn't be a reasonable basis for making homosexuality illegal (not to mention that homosexuality would continue to exist since "Resistance to Resistance is Futile"). Further, I don't know if I am personally interested in getting married, but I'm not going to go out and try to pass an amendment preventing other people (gay or straight) from getting married. It basically comes down to tolerance and equality. Both are essential for meaningful democracy. Even if there were only two citizens in a country, those two people are going to have different ideas about something or other. In order for them both to live freely and peacefully they must learn that they cannot force their beliefs on each other. There are some folks who take aim at the very idea of tolerance. I saw a bumper sticker a while back that said "Truth, not Tolerance" and had some crosses on it. While there do have to be some objective truths for democracy to function (ie. we must all be subject to the same laws for instance, and those laws must be enforced the same for all members of society), culture and religion are never going to be areas where there is universal agreement. Quite the opposite. This fact does not threaten democracy, it strengthens it. Without equality for all in a society there is apartheid, not democracy. Equality means more than high flown rhetoric. It means that all in a society must have the same rights, and those rights are enforced the same for all. It is an unequal situation when the benefits afforded to married couples by society are denied to same sex couples. Equality also means that all must have equal opportunties to pursue their happiness, so long as it doesn't harm others. If it makes two consenting adults happy to get married, then they should be allowed to do so. Or more importantly, they should not be interfered with. Same
Sex Marriage Links, Marriage Equality Links Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Same-Sex Marriage is a Feminist Issue
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