On Love and Marriage

Marriage and love at least to me, are some of the nicest and happiest things that humans can share with each other. My parents have been married for over three decades and to me they've symbolized what a fairly stable marriage is. When I think about them and how happy they have been I also think of how horrid it would be for them if they had been denied the ability to get married. Simply because my mother is a woman and my dad's a man their marriage is socially acceptable and not disputed. Furthermore, if I, being a woman decided to marry a man who I love very much, (and I hope to do so one day) I don't think people would think less of me for doing so. What I feel is so unfair is if two men or two women want to marry each other, suddenly loads of people get all up in arms about it and laws are passed to ban the practice. 

What's interesting is that some of the same arguments people use against gay marriage were once used to ban interracial marriage. One argument that does bother me more than most is the religious argument against gay marriage and interracial marriage. For interracial marriage, opponents touted the idea that such marriage was against God's law. Then there's the argument that gay marriage is a sin. From what I've read of the Bible in general, I feel that the Bible can be interpreted in so many ways. To me, the Bible and religion in general promotes (or should promote) love and the idea that it damns the love that can exist between two people just because they are of different races or because they are both male or both female seems to go against that idea.   It makes me sad to think that while the church embraces interracial marriage with open arms and baptizes the children of such marriages, gay couples don't seem to be welcomed at all unless they agree to conform and somehow "stop being gay"-which is probably as easy as preventing oneself from being heterosexual. The idea that gay people reject religion stands to reason in that sense, after all who wants to be a part of something that actively persecutes you?

I write all this because I want to stand for what I believe is right and fair and to provoke thought. I love people and so, at least in the instance of gay marriage, it would make me happier than anything to know that such couples can get married and love freely without fear of persecution. If interracial marriage can be promoted and legalized without really any harm done to society, I hope that gay marriage can be legalized as well. In short, I hope that love can overcome the large amount of hatred surrounding these issues.


Sources
1. Ramos, C., Goldberg, N. G., & Badgett, M. V. (2009). The Effects of Marriage Equality in Massachusetts: A survey of the experiences and impact of marriage on same-sex couples. The Williams Institute. Retrieved 12/25/13 from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9dx6v3kj.
2. Reeve, E. (2012).  How Arguments Against Gay Marriage Mirror Those Against Miscegenation. Retrieved 2/25/13 http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/05/funny-how-arguments-against-gay-marriage-are-just-those-against-miscegenation/52108/.