Students have joined in the national celebration of Coming Out Week. The weeklong festivities, sponsored by UCLA Queer Alliance, have allowed students to gather in solidarity and support their fellow Bruins and celebrate the LGBT community.
But the week has also promoted important discussion on several political topics, including Proposition 8, which, if passed, would effectively eliminate the fundamental right of same-sex couples to marry.
The editorial board feels strongly that this proposition should not pass and that all voters need to take a stand for themselves and their peers in ensuring this right for all couples.
Denying fundamental rights to fellow citizens is wrong, and this back-and-forth needs to stop.
Enough is enough.
Opponents ask same-sex couples to settle for “civil unions.”
Is this a joke?
This idea of civil unions would be like telling women at the turn of the century that instead of having the right to vote, they just have to have “vouchers.” It means nothing, it does nothing, and it demeans the recipients of such settlements.
Same-sex couples should have the same legal rights as heterosexual couples, and the religious-based argument that marriage should exist only between a man and woman is irrelevant.
There is a clear separation of church and state, and if people take issue with the word “marriage,” (and they have the right to take issue) they can handle it within their religious organizations. But they have no right to impinge upon others’ political rights with religious rhetoric.
It is contradictory and hypocritical to stand as an American and talk about the foundation of equality, tolerance and fairness of the nation, and then to turn our backs on other citizens who are equally entitled.
Are these truths no longer self-evident?
It’s completely unacceptable that any human being not have the same rights as any other human being.
In addition, there are those “thinkers” who are not fundamentally against gay marriage per se, but feel that granting this fundamental human right somehow acts as the “slippery slope” to people marrying their pets or some such nonsense.
In response, it’s not as if granting women the right to vote suddenly granted validity to the argument that hamsters ought to have the right to vote.
These silly arguments, if they can even be called that, only detract from the real issue at hand.
Other progressive countries, such as Spain, Belgium, Canada and Holland, have legalized gay marriage and no one seems to be marrying Bessie the Cow.
All humans deserve the same rights. Same-sex couples are not second-class citizens, and denying their right to marry essentially lowers their status.
The fact that this board or anyone else is still talking about whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry is staggering at this juncture.
The word “progressive” should not be assigned to nations or peoples who endorse the right of same-sex couples to be married; those who do not endorse such rights should be chastised and humiliated for their flagrant prejudice.
Proposition 8 should not be on the ballot, but because it is, step up and do the right thing.
Vote to defeat this bill.