Separate but Equal is not Fair to LBGT

BY CARA MACDONALD

Last week’s editorial by Heather Brady brought up some valid arguments about the direction that gay rights activists should take in regards to same-sex marriage.

While I feel that Brady has her heart in the right place, I think there are misunderstandings of the reasons why equal marriage rights are so important to members of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community and why the religious community condemns them.

To say that most LGBT people are not religious is probably an over generalization.  I can think of several of the top of my head that do not fit this assumption.  With that being said, however, it makes perfect sense why a homosexual individual might be more than a little turned off by organized religion.
From personal experience, I understand how difficult it is to be part of a community that preaches eternal damnation for those who were born with a sexual orientation other than straight.

When elite clergy members plague homosexuality as a threat to our society and to our families, I am surprised that so many homosexuals still attend church.  Would a black man join a white supremacy group? Unless you are Dave Chappelle, the answer is probably no.

Though, traditionally, marriages have been performed in places of worship, a religious ceremony means nothing in the eyes of the state.  Without a marriage license, it is not valid.  Although a Las Vegas wedding may not constitute sacred, no one can deny that it is still a marriage.

LGBT rights activists should not settle for civil unions, even those that grant “equal” rights to couples.  Our nation’s history has showed us that “separate, but equal,” is not actually equal, nor is it just.

Though many quibble over semantics, in reality, objections to same-sex marriage have little to do with changing the definition of a word.  In fact, it has little to do with religion either.

Those who object to same-sex relationships are nothing more than ignorant bigots who do not understand that homosexuality is as much of a choice as the color of one’s skin.

What the LGBT community is really looking for is acceptance: the recognition that the love between two people of the same sex is no less significant than the love between a man and a woman.  But until the rest of us can see that “separate, but equal” isn’t cutting it anymore, we have a lot of work that still needs to be done.