Straight ‘Partnership’

It will devalue marriage. Personally, I can’t believe anyone actually argued this. If we were worried about devaluing marriage, we should have thought about that before Hollywood, and probably Vegas too. Marriage got devalued when you could get drunk and sign yourself up to someone you met in a casino. Or maybe it was when we started getting weekly reports in each glossy gossip rag about every single celebrity couple and what they were, weren’t and should have been doing. Or the 50 page spread of every single wedding of people not many of us care about getting married in very expensive places. The concept of marriage as some sacred bond, while it may still be true for the individuals involved, fell from the public perception years ago. Now crying that more people will be able to do it, so it won’t mean the same, is just sad.

It will confuse children. Somehow, I don’t think this one can be taken seriously. Children are not as dumb as we like to think. They do use their eyes, ears and brain: they pick up on things. They pick up on love, and hate, and all the huge wide spectrum of emotions we as humans show. Children need love, and they crave knowledge. They are curious. And the amazing thing is, these young minds learn. This is a trick many older minds have forgotten, it seems. Children will not spontaneously change their sexual orientation because they know that some people fall in love with another person of the same gender. They will not all suddenly decide they want to grow up to be the next Socrates, Alexander the Great, Oscar Wilde, Sappho, Tammy Baldwin, Ellen Lee DeGeneres or X. But some of the young minds who do mature into men or women who are gay, lesbian or bisexual will know they are counted as equal to those who love the opposite sex.

And that leads, neatly enough to my final point, and the final excuse that is frequently used: they’re not like us. Wow, this one has always blown me away. History has shown plenty of examples of this kind of thinking. It helped Hitler slaughter millions upon millions. It helped the KKK go without investigation. It allowed Stalin to purge entire communities. It killed entire populations of indigenous people when new settlers approached land. It prevented millions of people having the right to vote. It kept women in abusive relationships for decades, led to the murder of men and women as a result of abuse. The list goes on, and on, and on, through human history. Humans are just that: Human. We’re the ones who got lucky with the opposable thumbs and big brains. And we are equal. We may do bad things, and we each have to account for what we have done in our time, but we are all equal. So condemning one persons sexuality because you think your difference makes you superior is below you.

All of the above noted is solely my opinion, and from public knowledge that may not be worth a whole lot. No offence is intended, and if any is caused I do apologise, but considering the world we live in that’s not likely to help.