In last Tuesday’s election, Maine repealed gay couples’ right to marriage. Just as California passed Proposition 8 last year, Maine has now done the same. Discrimination based on sexuality is unfair and unjust. Gay couples should have the same rights as straight couples, and the state should not be given the power to choose whether or not gay couples can marry.
When I think about this issue, I think about how it affected our state last year. After Proposition 8 passed, I went to several rallies held by the “No on 8″ campaign. A popular sign at the rallies read, “Gay is the New Black.” And it kind of is.
Black people were unjustly discriminated against in this country and denied their rights. After a long battle for equality, they received the same civil rights that the white law-makers enjoyed. Similarly, gay and lesbian couples are being denied the right to marriage and must fight for equality.
Jordan Galindo, a third-year history student and member of the Student Coalition for Marriage Equality weighed in on the Maine election.
“We as a student community, our members as well as the other LGBT groups on campus, try to get others involved,” said Galindo. “For now, we are really focusing on trying to get more students involved and become more aware of what’s going on not only with Prop. 8 but also in the United States.”
After Maine’s election, ABC News reported, “Maine would have been the sixth state in the country to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, but instead becomes the 31st state to oppose the unions in a popular vote.”
However, the defeat does not stop the gay and lesbian community from campaigning for the future.
Galindo believes that the best way to change the mind of people who are on the fence about the issue is to tell them a personal story, whether it is about yourself, a friend or a family member.
“If I were to talk to someone, I’d try to relate to them on a personal note. I would tell them my story; I am a gay man, and one day I would definitely like to be able to settle down and get married and have a family, and have the right to. It’s something that is very close to me, and I feel that I should be treated equally under the law,” Galindo said.
In order for same-sex couples to receive all the same governmental benefits that straight couples receive, the law must allow their marriage.
“I’ve always learned that marriage is a commitment between two people that are in love and are willing to commit to each other and start a family and settle down,” Galindo said. “It’s not a civil union or a domestic partnership; it’s marriage. Everyone should be able to marry the person of their choosing.”
Kyle Robell, a third-year communications student, offered another point of view.
“I feel that marriage is a religious ceremony and should be treated as such,” Robell said.
However, married couples are taxed differently and have different legal rights regarding their spouse’s will and medical decisions. Because the law distinguishes that a couple must be bound by marriage to receive these benefits, the situation leaves the religious realm and enters into politics.
Robell went on to say, “The state shouldn’t recognize marriage as anything other than a religious ceremony. Everyone, gay or straight, should be required to have civil unions in order to receive governmental benefits. … The gay community will be recognized as equals and the religious community will keep their ceremony pure.”
While this sounds all good and nice, I doubt that married couples would be willing to change their marriage into a civil union. Many marriages are not religious ceremonies. I agree that everyone should receive the same rights from the government, but the only way for that to happen is to give gay and lesbian couples legislature allowing them to be “married” under the law.
The government should not have the right to decide whether or not gay and lesbian couples have the right to marry. “Marriage protection” does not protect marriages by any means. Instead, it prevents people who truly love one another from committing themselves to each other through marriage. Gay and lesbian couples are no less capable of raising a family than straight couples and should be allowed to be recognized as a family by marriage.
As a state and as a country, we should be fighting for the civil rights of the LGBT community. We must stop making the same mistakes and begin to give gay and lesbian couples equal rights.
If you, too, think gay is the new black, e-mail Jagerman at njagerman@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.