Proposition 8 and the Gay Marriage Debate
Written by Christopher Neiswonger
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09 August 2010
Americans can be very slow to understand the negative effects of assuming a “right” that corresponds to every want. This was true when slave owners led the South by mob, crowing continually about their God given rights to their “property”. This was true in regard to the civil rights movement when people powerfully proclaimed their right to separate schools, separate restaurants and separate portions of buses, their claim being that they had a right to be separate. The supposed right was illusory and harmful to the community, all true rights being for the community’s good.
When the argument is made that there is no reasonable relationship between marriage and gender, while only corresponding genders produce children and gendered pairs are the primary environment for the social, educational, and physical well being of children it might seem that some are willfully ignoring unavoidable facts of human experience.
There is no need for one to be a Christian, nor even particularly religious to question the nature of the human rights claims made in the recent decision by federal Judge Vaughn Walker regarding Proposition 8. The European Court of Human Rights recently maintained a unanimous decision against the categorization of Gay Marriage as a Universal Human Right. Judge Walker re-classifying Gay Marriage as a “fundamental right” is in essence making that claim; that there is an implied but until now secret right hidden in the nooks and crannies of the Constitution. I guess it’s possible, but whoever makes that kind of a claim should understand that it is contingent upon them to make very powerful arguments in their favor. Here, and this is in being as charitable as possible, these are sorely lacking.