Same-Sex Marriage Not About Sex

The white Christofascists and other detractors of LGBT individuals like to always define us in terms of sex acts - sex acts which many of us may not even engage in at all or perhaps in frequently at best.  Heterosexuals do not define themselves solely in terms of who they are attracted to or the who they love.  Its all part of the effort of the "godly folk" to make LGBT persons somehow less than human and, therefore, worthy of abuse and discrimination.  As noted before, the real issue for these horrible people (that's how I see Christofascists) is that they cannot countenance anything or anyone who differs from their sick, neurotic fantasy world  belief system.  Hence, all too typically, they similarly hate blacks, Hispanics, non-Christians.  The list, indeed, is almost endless.  A column at DanRiver.com (the Danville, Virginia newspaper) of all places has an op-ed column that looks at the toxicity of homophobia and also makes the case that gay marriage isnot about sex.  Here are excerpts:

I was proud to see the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturn Virginia’s ban on same sex marriages.

Contrary to the motto, Virginia has not always been “for lovers.” Growing up in Danville, I can remember a time when interracial dating was against the law. It was the case of Loving v. Virginia in which the Supreme Court held Virginia’s ban on interracial marriages was unconstitutional and the government could no longer engage in racial discrimination.

For many young gays who have no support from their families, endure ridicule from their peers and receive condemnation from their church, death becomes a better choice than life. There is no form of oppression greater than the young gay man who sits in his church every Sunday and hears his pastor exclaim God hates things about him he cannot change. I would ask all the perfect people in the congregation to please stand.

Same-sex marriage is not about sex. It is about control, power and receiving the full protection of the law to the same degree as heterosexuals. I am not demanding anyone becomes a proponent of homosexuality or same-sex marriage. While I disagree with their theology, I respect the right of churches who oppose granting same-sex marriages from their altars.

Still, such a position should not translate into opposition to legalization of same-gender loving outside of their churches. In America, it is the state, not any church, that legitimizes the legal license of marriage. The church may choose, or not choose, to add its blessing to such a legal union. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. concluded, what makes America great is even when a person is deprived of a right, he or she always has the right to fight for that right. This is the very reason why I chose a career in politics, so I could fight for the rights of all persons (he, she, or “undecided”).

With the legalization of same sex marriage in 19 states and the president recently issuing an executive order that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating against workers based on their sexual orientation, we are moving closer to an America that lives “out the true meaning of its creed” and respects the humanity and dignity of all persons. Go Virginia!