Keep Hope for the Future

In this tumultuous political environment that exists today, it seems as though little progress will be accomplished nationwide in the elections of 2010 (when referring to legalizing gay marriage).  Problems continue to crop up in states across the country, most notably in Iowa, which just recently accepted an amendment to the State Constitution that legalized gay marriage.  Searching the news today, I discovered this story of how a man is having to fight to keep his spouse in the United States, since the man is a citizen of Venezuela.  Though I cannot relate to the situation, I couldn't imagine the feeling of losing your spouse from your life simply because tat spouse is of the same-sex.  The Progressive movement overall seems to be coming to a short-lived end, after reviving itself two years ago in the 2008 elections.  

Though this does not spell doom for nation-wide gay marriage.  While there is a more traditionalist social backlash occurring at this time, international pressure from Europe and Latin America along with domestic gay activists and portions of the press have begun to squeeze the Supreme Court of the United States.  With the pressure growing, it seems as though the Court will be forced to review the definition of marriage soon.  A positive decision on the legality of gay marriage could result in the spread of equality in other nations, such as the United Kingdom.  

I believe that the American government, no matter which branch or level is prompted into action first, will eventually do what is right and nationally legalize same-sex marriage.  Though we remain an unequal society now, eventually there will be freedom nationwide for gays to marry and hold the same rights as heterosexual spouses.

Gay Marriage is not a liberal or conservative issue, it's a human rights issue.

This video from The Huffington Post beautifully displays how issues of human rights are not just liberal or conservative issues; they breach the gap and deal with humanity itself.  As a self-proclaimed left-wing progressive, I can honestly say that I was in a state of disbelief when I stumbled upon this video--a conservative openly supporting same-sex marriage in this political environment?  Though I quickly recognized that my reaction was unfair to Olson.  Why should he be opposed to letting same-sex couples obtain the same rights that other citizens have?  It dawned on me upon thinking of this that, though Olson and I are very different in terms of politics, we can agree that everyone deserves natural humans rights.  To see others from a seemingly alien moral background or cultural background come together over basic issues like this can hopefully pull even the most pessimistic individual out of their nihilism.

Self-Analysis

Looking back to when I began this project in early October, I realize that my knowledge of the topic and the lens from which I view the school of thought from have immensely broadened over time.  Though I cannot claim that I am some sort of expert on the issue of legalizing same-sex marriage, I have gained much knowledge over this process of research and have discovered subconscious biases within my previous mindset.

To become more informed on gay marriage and the fight over legalization, I followed many different sources: blogs written by members of the intelligentsia, political commentary sites, etc.  I followed Commentators such as Glenn Greenwald or Andrew Sullivan regularly.  Though both of these men discuss a broad arrange of topics and are politically opposite of one another, they both are gay and will sometimes address the issue that I cover.  I find their perspectives fascinating, and reading their work enlightened me to recognize that sexuality does not rigidly follow the American political spectrum.  Before I started this blog, I tended to lump conservatives, particularly social conservatives, into a homogeneous group, since most of the social conservatives that I have met in my life have held quite similar views.  Though after conducting research, I have realized over the course of the month that not all social conservatives are against gay rights and that my thinking was mainly an unfair generalization.

Besides following blog commentators, I also frequently searched sites such as The Huffington Post and Politico.  Since I read material from these sites on a regular basis, along with articles from the New York Times and NPR, it is easy for me to locate related material for the blog.  These sites have an array of writers and commentators who post unbiased articles with intellectual content, so I find sources from these sites to be quite handy.

As I continued to research the battle over the moral difficulties of allowing same-sex marriage, I couldn’t help but notice the trends that went with the argument.  Almost all of the commentators who argued against legalization used religious testimonies for the backbone of their arguments.  This led me to conclude that, similar to my earlier postulation of conservatives, right wing Christians were all against marriage equality.  This assumption however, proved to not entirely be true—I was generalizing.  After speaking with some self-identified conservative Christians in my local field of study, I realized that though many of them did not agree with the morality of same-sex marriages due to passages such as this in the Bible, they recognize that their religious views should not affect secular same-sex marriages due to the First Amendment.  So though these individuals identify with a group that is generally seen as an opponent to legalization, they themselves do not oppose legalization due to the recognition that the law does not apply to them.  Not only did I discover a bias within my way of thinking from this experience, but I also learned to hold more respect for people whose opinion differ from my own.

            I think writing this blog has been a very positive experience for me, both intellectually and personally.  I hope that you have enjoyed following this blog and will continue to read my posts.  Thank you.

Peer Blogs that You Should Read

1) Algae: Powering the Future?
Though personally interested in social sciences, reading humanmachine's research on algae as an alternate energy has certainly broadened my perspective on what is possible in terms of energy sources for the future.  We, as a civilization, need to stop tapping into fossil fuels before it is too late to preserve our natural environment.

2) What the Frack?
What can I say about What the Frack?  Houston Brown's lengthy and humorous posts present the dangers of fracking in an interesting and informative format.  I would definitely recommend checking this blog out!

3) The Border: Where Immigration and Race Meet
I find Mr. Señor's posts on issues of immigration very informative.  Prior to following this blog, I had not given illegal immigration or contemporary racial discrimination much thought.  However, reading this blog has given me new insight and interest in the issue.

All Eyes to New York

The battlefield over legalizing gay marriage is heating up in New York.  Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo has stated that he will prioritize getting a bill passed before the end of 2011 that will legalize gay marriage in the state of New York. Celebrities, like Alec Baldwin in the video above, have also come out to support the legalization in New York, along with political action groups.  However, there is steep opposition for passing such a bill from the Upstate New York population.  These rural areas are more socially conservative than America's largest city to the south.  The political divisions between the two regions of the state should create an interesting scenario in the coming year.  New York's decision on legalizing gay marriage will likely effect other states who are considering similar legislation, so it is important that this bill comes into being and becomes law.

All-inclusive Resolutions?

            It is without a shadow of a doubt in my mind, and in the minds of other commentators and organizations, that there will be a national bill or amendment to the Constitution passed in the coming years that will universally legalize gay marriage within the United States.  Though this statement may leave you with the assumption that the issue itself will be resolved if such a bill were to be passed, this assumption is far from the truth.  Sometimes congressional or judicial actions do not agree with the plurality opinion from the American public.  Just because gay marriage might become nationally recognized doesn’t mean that the American populace would universally accept it.  In fact, in some of the more conservative states, an increase in the amount of hate crimes or violent reactionary aggression might be seen following a nation-wide declaration of gay marriage.

            The rift over the morality of gay marriage must be resolved before the issue can be put to rest.  As I suggested in my last post, a legalization of gay secular marriage would be one step closer into purging homophobia from the our country.  While some dislike the gay community because of their own interpretations of their faith system, others hate homosexuals or bisexuals because of a lack of understanding.  The media spreading more unbiased information on what being a homosexual or bisexual is to the general public could solve this ignorance that is leading to violent incidents.  Forcing those who is disagree to see that sexuality is not a choice*, just like eye color, height, and skin color, will severely weaken the argument that “queer” living is unnatural.

* This source primarily focuses on helping parents understand their children if they are bisexual or gay; however, it hones in on the issue

Possible Compromise?

As mentioned in a previous post of mine, there are many different perspectives one can take on the issue of whether same-sex marriage is something that should be banned.   Since the front of the debate sits mainly between the progressive movement, backed by the First Amendment of the Constitution, and the fundamental Christians, backed by their faith, the debate is highly polarized and emotionally based (in fact, it is hard to analyze this issue without bringing in an emotional stance to the floor). 

The sides argue this: the progressives say that same-sex marriage should be completely legalized because it is a violation of human rights to deny gay couples the same privileges that married straight couples have in contemporary times.  Those in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage also point to the opposing side’s use of religion to justify their stance as a violation of Constitutional rights, according to the First Amendment.  Finally, progressives cite the success of legalizing gay marriage in other countries around the world (such as South Africa, Argentina, or Norway) as motivators for having America do the same.

The Christian fundamentalists who oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage mainly claim that marriage between the same sex, or homosexuality in general, is a sin against God.  This claim is justified to them with excerpts from the Bible (the site I draw this source from obviously holds bias).  These excerpts are questioned by some though, for some more open-minded Christians believe that these passages are taken out of context (again, this site also holds bias, but it is difficult to discuss religious opinions objectively).  They also argue that tolerating gay marriage destroys the foundations of society by delivering the message that homosexuality is something to promote.

The debate over legalizing gay marriage remains an extremely polarized issue in the general public.  Though the hopes of having a consensus of philosophical acceptance in the near future is not feasible, a possible compromise could be made that would solve the debate politically.  The compromise would be to simply legalize secular gay marriage.  If a marriage is secular, then, to the church’s eye, God does then not recognize it.  So if the religious fundamentalists are not willing to negotiate opening the religious definition of marriage to include same-sex relationships, then maybe forging a law or amendment to the Constitution that would allow secular same-sex marriages to be nationally preformed might be a middle ground.  This way, gay couples could enjoy the rights that straight couples have, such as tax cuts or hospital visitation rights, without disturbing the wishes of the religious right.