One may think that civil unions for the gays are marriage in all but name. The gays have equal rights. But if they have equal rights in all but name, why not name these rights that which they are, i.e. marriage?! The reason if course is that they do not enjoy equal rights.
They also do not enjoy equal consideration by the majority of people. The recent California ballot initiative, Proportion 8, to define marriage as between man and woman and to limit marriage to such an arrangement has shown this. The initiative was passed by the majority. The majority of people do not like gays (mostly derived from the bible and other religious intolerances and nonsense not from some fact). This fight the gays are fighting is not about marriage, it is about much wider want of being accepting as equals. If gays were equal to other people in the eyes of the public there would be no arguments about them being able to have equal rights, like a right to marry.
One can only treat everyone equally by applying the same standards and rules to everyone. When one singles out a group or individuals and applies different rules and standards one is discriminating, one is not treating that group equally. Some would argue that it is possible to treat the gays equally yet somehow keep them separate. They propose to keep marriage for normal heterosexuals and civil unions for the gays but to have the civil unions grant the gays the same rights as marriage grants to heterosexuals. This would be exactly the same as the racist Jim Crow laws that kept the blacks separate but equal. Since the gays have done nothing wrong except to be born the way they are, singling them out and preventing them from doing something is treating them not equally. Preventing someone from causing damage or injury is justifiable. But what are the gays being prevented from doing exactly? They are prevented from expressing love and commitment to that love and to have this recognised by society. It seems strange to deny people to do this.
They also do not enjoy equal consideration by the majority of people. The recent California ballot initiative, Proportion 8, to define marriage as between man and woman and to limit marriage to such an arrangement has shown this. The initiative was passed by the majority. The majority of people do not like gays (mostly derived from the bible and other religious intolerances and nonsense not from some fact). This fight the gays are fighting is not about marriage, it is about much wider want of being accepting as equals. If gays were equal to other people in the eyes of the public there would be no arguments about them being able to have equal rights, like a right to marry.
One can only treat everyone equally by applying the same standards and rules to everyone. When one singles out a group or individuals and applies different rules and standards one is discriminating, one is not treating that group equally. Some would argue that it is possible to treat the gays equally yet somehow keep them separate. They propose to keep marriage for normal heterosexuals and civil unions for the gays but to have the civil unions grant the gays the same rights as marriage grants to heterosexuals. This would be exactly the same as the racist Jim Crow laws that kept the blacks separate but equal. Since the gays have done nothing wrong except to be born the way they are, singling them out and preventing them from doing something is treating them not equally. Preventing someone from causing damage or injury is justifiable. But what are the gays being prevented from doing exactly? They are prevented from expressing love and commitment to that love and to have this recognised by society. It seems strange to deny people to do this.
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