**Usual disclaimer applies: my journal = my opinion. If you hate it, either skip this entry or respond politely. Hateful comments, flaming, and all manner of disrespect will be deleted and there will be some serious I.P. banning of the offenders. — The Management**
Before I begin my tirade, I would like to explain that I use the term “same-sex marriage” in place of “gay marriage” because it is more accurate. Not all homosexuals are male and “gay” generally applies to homosexual men. Feel free to disagree, but it is *MY* journal and I will use the terminology I find fits what I want to say.
If you haven’t heard about the situation in San Francisco, you’ve been living under a rock since Valentine’s Day or do not engage in any form of media consumption. Gavin Newsom, the new mayor of San Francisco, has gotten the county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples who want to marry and city officials have conducted probably about 3600 weddings at this point. The mayor of New Paultz, New York followed suit (though he was cited and faces misdemeanor charges) and Multanomah County, Oregon is starting to do this. This is really troubling to conservative Christians because the cities are condoning what they believe to be sinful and it’s an abomination to them. The most outspoken opponent of this (our psuedo-fundamentalist Christian president) has vowed to get a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
So what do I think of this? Well… firstly, I should probably affirm that I do indeed believe that homosexuality (actions not identity) is a sin and same-sex marriage is basically the state condoning something that I (according to the Scripture I base my faith upon) believe is sinful. So… putting it bluntly, I am against it. For those who want to say that I can choose to ignore those passages or that it was one man’s opinion, don’t waste your time on me. I can’t just pick and choose what I believe. I cannot find ANY Scriptural evidence supporting an argument in favor of it, even if I try to prooftext it. I’ve struggled with this issue since my first year of college when 10 of my friends came out to me. I have prayed about it and this is where I stand. C/S
Having stated where I stand on the issue of whether or not homosexualiy is a sin, I have a problem with what is happening in San Francisco, New York, and Oregon. You cannot just say that something is blessed and assume that God automatically blesses it. California *does* have a law against same-sex marriage that was voted in 4 or 5 years ago — I know this because I voted in favor of it. (And yes, I did seriously piss off a lot of my GLBT friends when they found out. They understood but they were upset.) This means that the mayor of San Francisco is openly defying the law. The California Supreme Court is pretty afraid to rule one way or another because they know fully well it would hit the SCOTUS and that would set a national precedent. The attorney general (whose job it is to uphold the law) is refusing to step in, probably a political move because they wouldn’t be re-elected if they were to intercede, nullify the marriages, and arrest Newsom. Heck, the mayor is doing this as a popularity ploy — it gives him the GLBT vote in SFO and you just don’t piss them off if you want to do anything in politics. The Governator is against this whole thing and (for once) he has a viable solution — make the same-sex unions the same as a domestic partnership. They have some legal rights (can visit their partner in the hospital, may be eligible for spousal benefits should their company’s insurance company be OK with it) but it isn’t the same as marriage, which would make the uber-conservatives a little less whiny.
As much as I am against the same-sex marriage wave that’s happening, I think the president’s proposal for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage is overkill and pandering to the uber-right wing people that seem to be his core backers. Trying to get a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage is like sending the National Guard in to break up a playground brawl — it’s massive overkill. We have the Defense of Marriage Act that Clinton passed — other states don’t have to recognize the marriages issued by the county of San Francisco. Heck, other counties don’t have to recognize them. Making this a constitutional issue violates the Constitution in itself: this is a states’ rights issue, whether or not people want to see it this way. I’m sure a constitutional amendment could theoretically pass (38 states currently have laws banning same-sex marriage according to CNN) but I really wonder if it’s needed. Other states can choose whether or not they want to recognize the marriages and the federal government can smile pretty and explain that they aren’t issuing new Social Security cards because it’s not a valid reason for a name change. (My prediction: the number of people filing full-out name changes will increase in SFO county.)
Not the most well-thought out response to all of this, but it’s where I am right now.
