Utah College Paper: Gays Should Be Allowed to Marry

I suspect that the theocrats in the Mormon Church will not be pleased with an op-ed in the Dixie State College in Utah which equates opposition to same sex marriage with the mindset that supported bans on interracial marriage. Like the bigots who refuse civil marriage equality to gays, the proponents of anti-miscegenation laws likewise used the Bible and religion as their last resort argument for justifying bans on interracial marriage which were ultimately struck down by the U. S. Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia. The author of the op-ed in the Dixie Sun does an excellent job of taking apart the arguments for banning gay marriage and demonstrates that there is no legitimate reason for DOMA and similar laws except for religious based discrimination. Something that under the U. S. Constitution ought to be illegal if the First Amendment and the concept of separation of church and state are to have any real meaning. Here are highlights from the op-ed column:
*
With all the contention that has happened in the state of California regarding the marriage of same sex couples, I couldn't help but wonder why this group of people were being singled out and told they could not marry while the rest of the country could marry whomever they wanted. I was reminded of Loving v. Virginia in 1967.
*
The trial judge, Leon M. Bazile, voiced the opinion of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach and said: "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."
*
America has made a lot of huge decisions concerning the citizen's freedom. The sooner same sex marriage is allowed, the more time we have to become accustomed to it. I believe every person has the right to be happy. I know the things that make me happy are going to be different from anyone else I will ever meet. But that is the beauty of living in this fine country. The varieties of people who make up our society make our culture so unique. Judging the people who live here because they are different is hypocritical.
*
If a black lady could marry a white man in a time where African Americans were segregated, then the people of the United States should let a man marry another man without persecuting them. If we can't do that, we are no better than our ancestors who spit on blacks because they were different.

*

Would that our elected officials and more judges had the common sense and respect for equality under the law as the author of the student newspaper piece.