The long road towards equality
To some Western standards, I have many of the attributes for leading a happy, fulfilling life: I’m white, male, educated, and creative. I have all of my fingers and toes, no medical problems, a good relationship with my birth family, and a job I enjoy. Most importantly, I am in a loving, long-term relationship. But I am withheld a right that most people take for granted - getting married. I am gay. I would like to be treated fairly and receive the same benefits given my fellow Americans. I cannot accept that I am prevented from getting legally married to my same-sex partner. What are the choices that anti-gay marriage advocates propose?
- Be alone.
- Marry a woman I do not love.
Legal support for Gay marriage and Gay Registered Domestic Partnerships is growing in the European Union. Despite the many good reasons for marriage equality as well as mounting medical evidence that sexual preference is genetically determined, homosexuals are still legally prevented from marrying in the US. This treatment smacks of Jim Crow.
Recent legal decisions in Massachusetts and in the US Supreme court are showing some hope for gay equal rights, at least regarding marriage. A long road lies ahead. One of the difficulties in ensuring equal rights for homosexuals is that there are so many areas of law that must be re-written. The Yahoo/Planet Out article, Study: Aging gay couples face fiscal burden points out that “equality in access to marriage would also bring equity to the taxation of and benefits for all seniors regardless of sexual orientation. Its authors suggest a series of independent steps needed to bring equity to gay, lesbian and bisexual seniors. Among them are rewriting Social Security, federal tax, Medicaid and property laws.” It would be useful to look at the Netherlands’s path towards marital equality and see what lessons we can learn and how long a road it will be.
