One of the biggest and most controversial issues in this election is Proposition 8. You’ve seen the signs up in people’s yards, making it very clear that they disapprove of gay marriage by proudly displaying their bright and sunny yellow signs proclaiming, “Yes on Prop 8.”
Commercials saturation commercials are on California’s airwaves stating that our poor, innocent children will have to learn about gay marriage in school and will – Oh no! – maybe turn gay.
Ridiculous. Outrageous, even. How can we be so ignorant?
This idea of having to teach children this concept in school is a scare tactic. Nowhere does the proposition state any changes to school curricula. This was a dirty tactic from the “Yes on Proposition 8” campaign. Same sex-couples have been entitled to marry since 2004 in Massachusetts. They are also currently entitled to marry in California.
Why, now, will this proposition suddenly change everything? It will not. Things will remain just as they are.
If this proposition passes, it will add a new amendment to the California Constitution that will say, “Only marriage between a man and woman is valid or recognized in California” and will be known in law as the California Marriage Protection Act.
The problem is that this act does not protect anybody, or the sanctity of marriage. There are so many other issues that ruin its sanctity. What about celebrities who marry someone for pure publicity, or how about people who marry—again, and again and again? What about young beautiful women who marry elderly men for their money?
These are different aspects that ruin the sanctity of marriage. But a loving, monogamous couple cannot get married because they happen to be the same sex?
The “No on Proposition 8” campaign is using the slogan “Equality for All,” and I couldn’t agree more. This proposed amendment does nothing but take away rights of people who have done absolutely nothing wrong. Gay couples should have the right to marry just as much as any straight couple.
This is not a matter of being Republican or Democrat. It is so much more than that. To take away a person’s rights because your political party tells you to is just plain inhumane. These are the rights of human beings. Real people. Are we going back to a time where discrimination is a feasible reason to deprive individuals of their rights?
The campaign for “Yes on Proposition 8” is saying that the proposition is about preserving marriage, and that it is not an attack on the gay lifestyle. They are also claiming that Proposition 8 does not strip away benefits or rights of gay or lesbian partnerships.
But not allowing someone to marry due to a sexual preference is taking away a right – the right to marry. No one should be singled out or treated differently in the state of California. Everyone should be treated equal.
The California Constitution should guarantee the same freedom and rights to everyone. The freedom to marry is fundamental to our society as much as the freedom of religion and speech.
So, all I am asking is to have a heart and vote based on rights for the people of California, not based on discriminatory reasons.
Jaclyn Mittman, a senior journalism major, is arts editor of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at jaclyn.mittman@laverne.edu.
