Write Or Wrong 69

Unlawfully Wed

"They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."-Andy Warhol

Here is the story of Terry and Renee. Pat was born in 1981 to Vic and Rachel Morrison of Queens, New York. Renee, on the other hand, was born in 1980 to Sid and Clancy Valentine of Los Angeles, California. Terry and Renee grew up with very different lives. Both of Terry's parents were police officers and as such, Terry had a lot of free time alone. Terry played multiple sports, excelling at basketball, soccer, and swimming at Cardozo High School. Renee's parents were both corporate lawyers. This afforded Renee a rather easy life of indulgence. Renee grew up with the freedom to pursue anything that she found interesting. She eventually found that she had immense talent as an actress. She became a star of all her schools drama performances. Around the same time, Terry was a star basketball player and swimmer and won an athletic scholarship to St. Johns University. Suffice to say, Terry's parents were very proud. When Renee graduated from high school, she decided to attend the New York University in hopes of entering their respected acting program.

As fate would have it, both Terry and Renee met in Manhattan one night while at a club. They met and instantly hit it off. They danced, had a couple of drinks, talked for what seemed like an eternity, and at the end of the night, exchanged phone numbers and bid each other a fond farewell. When they went back to their respective dorms, they both went to sleep with thoughts of each other in their mind. There was an obvious attraction. And one night, a few days later, Terry called Renee and invited her out to dinner and a movie. Renee accepted and she and Terry had a wonderful night together. Terry drove Renee home, walked her up to the door and, in a surprisingly brash move, kissed her goodnight. Renee didn't fight it, as she had a great attraction to Terry. Renee invited Terry in, and they spent the entire night together just talking and joking. And this was the beginning of their relationship.

Terry and Renee continued to date all through college, and even after they graduated. Terry got a job as account director at an advertising firm and Renee landed a few jobs doing commercials and eventually some roles in Broadway musicals. After dating for several years, Terry and Renee decided to move in together. Life was blissful for a time until. Then, one day, Terry was offered a job as head of an advertising firm in Texas. Renee was very happy for Terry, but didn't want to move to Texas. Terry told Renee that it was a chance of a lifetime. After doing a lot of soul searching, Renee to join Terry in this move to Arizona. They bought a house in a suburb of San Antonio and things were once again joyous. That is, until the day they decided that they wanted to get married. You see, Terry and Renee are both women, and same sex marriages are illegal in the state of Texas. What are Terry and Renee to do?

Now I guess this is a sort of ham-fisted approach to getting my point across, but this is really at the heart of the matter of same sex marriages. Of course, Terry and Renee are fictional characters, made up to illustrate a point. But they could be anyone of those folks seeking to marry their partner who just happens to be of the same sex. I believe it was the city of San Diego that was issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples. This was a wonderful historical event that will help in the movement to make same sex marriages legal, but such a movement faces vehement and powerful resistance. When this event went down in San Diego, the newly appointed Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or as he's affectionately known, "the Governator", declared such actions illegal. He said that it is illegal for same sex marriages to occur in the state of California. And he's correct, it is illegal, but it shouldn't be.

As you read this, one of the most hated men in the world is leading the charge against same sex marriage. That's right, the so-called leader of the "Free World", President George Walker Bush, is attempting to add an AMENDMENT to the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION to make same sex marriage illegal in all of the fifty states of this nation. Now why would he do such a thing? Because he's a conservative. Along with the religious groups of this country, which I'll touch upon later, he's a staunch opponent of marriage by homosexuals because of it's "moral" implications. To be honest, what is so immoral about being gay? Is it because it's different than the "traditional values" so many of us were raised with? Is it because a majority of people are afraid of the stereotypical information that they have received about a seemingly different "lifestyle". Or is it just that they feel threatened?

And continuing with the "moral" debate, the Christian groups that are against same sex marriage thoroughly confuse me. They stand on their pedestals, spouting about how the "scourge of homosexuality" and the loss of "traditional values" are weakening the country. Are they attributing the rise in crime and general apathy in society to gay people? I really don't see this as having any merit. How does being gay make you a criminal, or a person predisposed to crime? And if this is just from what the bible and religious authority says about homosexuality, then maybe these same people who are having pre-marital sex and are using contraception should adhere to their holy book a bit more strictly. There is nothing about being gay that makes you any less moral than any one else. I've known gay people who have been amazingly caring, good people, and "straight" folks who are complete wastes of space. It's scary to think that a lot of religious groups would forgive a wife beater and adulterer because he's straight and condemn a person a great moral character strictly for being gay. Now that makes no sense.

And as I see it, this is more over the gender roles we've created for ourselves in this 21st century world. Women are still the second class, and males dominate. The men are the ones who teach the boys how to fix things and play sports while women teach young girls to cook, clean and look pretty for guys. Extrapolating from these examples, we realize that it's simply gender roles that people are worried about. What happens when a father is walking with his daughter down the street and they see two women, two mothers, with their son, and the young girl asks why he has "two mommies"? How does the father answer the question without making the child ask more questions. Questions that threaten to unravel the carefully constructed system of gender roles that we've set up in this country and in this world. Now I'm not a radical. I'm not a super liberal. In fact, I think of myself as a conservative in many respects. But shouldn't there be a line drawn when the government and religion is telling people that they can't be happy just because of their sexual preference? Are we excluding people from all the monetary and societal benefits of marriage when just because they love someone of the same sex? Why? They are people like you and I. They cry. They bleed. They love. We're just too scared to change things from the way they've always been.

So thing about it long and hard. Think about why you don't agree with same sex marriage. Is there any good reason that people of the same sex should not get married? In the end, if you truly think about it logically and in an open- minded manner, you'll realize that the answer is no. People deserve to be happy. They deserve to love. And they deserve the benefits afforded by marriage. Not because they are American. Not because they are gay. Not because they are "straight". Just because they are. They're alive and are subject to the same natural rights that you and I possesses. So make change a reality.