The Supreme Court Rightfully Demurs on Gay Marriage
Our Supreme Court punted on hearing the gay marriage cases recently brought before it. By not hearing the cases, the court allowed same-sex marriages to be legal. 19 states already allow gay marriage; this non-decision brings the number to 30.
So now gays can marry in Oklahoma and ten new states. Oklahoma-born gays cheered the ruling from their fashionable bungalows in San Francisco, Atlanta and New York.
By letting lower court decisions stand, the Supremes did a pocket veto on those who are dead set against same-sex marriage. It was the right decision. The court, like the rest of sensible Americans, handled homosexuality in our time-honored fashion: by knowing it goes on and blissfully looking the other way.
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Like the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education desegregation case, it is clear where our nation is heading on same-sex marriage. Yet the court left how long it will take us to get there equivocal -- also a good idea.
When government tries to regulate anything, it creates a mess. Gay marriage is the most unnecessarily divisive issue in America, pitting the personal religious beliefs of people against the freedom of individuals to do as they damn well please.
Neither government nor citizens should waste time and energy trying to keep two loving, consenting, committed people from a public acknowledgment of their union. If we were to have a law against allowing a subset of our country to marry, it should be directed squarely at the Kardashians.
Is a couple of lady gym teachers with three cats and a joint checking account really a threat? Are two guys living in a once-blighted neighborhood that becomes gentrified with fixed-up homes and where, before you know it, bistros and bakeries pop up, a problem? How is that damaging to America? Who else is going to adopt twin Chinese girls? Madonna and Angelina Jolie can't take them all.
This is not our country's problem. Growing government and the resulting lack of freedom are.
Both political parties are studies in hypocrisy. Obama wants everyone to provide proof of health insurance that he deems acceptable, but he thinks no one should have to prove he or she is in our country legally or is entitled to vote. Some Republicans believe in "limited government," except for wars of choice, data mining, reproductive choice and whom you marry.
Neither side seems able to recognize the vast difference between governing and meddling. The fundamental right to be left alone, as long as what you do does not hurt others, is vital to a free human existence.
Your beliefs and your religion are private. If you (or your religion) do not like gay marriage, don't get gay married. ISIS shows us where strictly interpreted, antiquated religious dogma, left to interpretation, gets us.
Even the Pope equivocated and tacitly said to lighten up on society's disdain for gays, thus making the Papacy and the Catholic Church more open and tolerant of gays than rap music or Candidate Obama. Until recently, Obama opposed gay marriage; you can read about it in his upcoming tenth autobiography, Profiles in Political Expediency.
With all of our festering economic problems, I do not know why politicians endeavor to make life difficult for consenting adults. I guess politicians just don't understand, since such a small percentage of their sex is actually consensual.
Some in the GOP seem to think that, but for their vigilance, everyone in America might run off and get all gay married. News flash: Just as many conservatives as liberals test positive for appletinis. Usually you only discover which Republican politicians are gay when there is a sting operation at an airport bathroom or a truck stop.
Republicans, remember Ronald Reagan's reminder that you need a "big tent." And whom do you think will decorate it but gays?
To be fair, the GOP seems to have gotten the message, at least until its presidential contenders go to the Iowa and South Carolina primaries and go on record trying to out-anti-gay marriage and out-anti-abortion each other for the evangelical votes needed to win primaries. We laugh at Iran, where a few extremist Mullahs pick their leaders. I am not sure how the Iowa GOP primary differs.
This de facto marriage win caps a big year for gays. Michael Sam played in the NFL, and Marvel Comics says it will have its first openly gay super-hero. I presume his "super" power will be his elevated fashion sense and decorating acumen.
