I suppose it’s natural for people to want to ban gay marriage. Homosexuality is something many people don’t understand, don’t agree with, and/or don’t believe should be accepted as part of society. They feel compelled to stop gays from marrying, as if that will somehow make the issue of homosexuality go away.
But gay marriage is like an air bubble being held under water. It’s always pushing toward the surface, and no matter how hard you try to keep it submerged, it will eventually find freedom.
The United States is not a perfect nation, but I truly believe that we have a very fair-minded system. Yes, our leaders, our institutions and our masses have been known to do horrible things to certain groups, but eventually, our collective sense of justice always kicks in and keeps those air bubbles rising toward the surface. In our history, we’ve repeatedly condemned repression, and we’ve enacted laws that have expanded freedom to more members of society.
This is one of our best characteristics as a nation, and it’s the reason that fighting against freedom is a losing battle.
The general public simply doesn’t have a strong appetite for discrimination, and the people whose rights are being suppressed will never stop pressing toward the surface.
So in the upcoming election season, Coloradans may see two ballot initiatives regarding gay marriage. Democrats in the state legislature just introduced the Colorado Domestic Partnership Act, which would allow same-sex couples to register their union with their local county clerk in order to receive some of the benefits that married heterosexual couples enjoy.
Gay couples would have the right to make medical decisions for their incapacitated partners, get access to health-care and family-leave benefits and obtain inheritance rights.
This is basic stuff. This isn’t some big conspiracy to undermine society. It’s an adult, tax-paying citizen saying, “This is the person I love, and I’d like to have the right to visit him in the hospital if he gets into a car accident.”
As I approach my one-year wedding anniversary, I truly understand the feeling that if something happened to me, the first person I’d want to see is my wife. If something happened to her, I’d be devastated if I were legally prohibited from visiting her in the hospital.
This is one of the air bubbles that is rising to the surface for gay people, and I just don’t believe that fair-minded Coloradans would deny them this simple freedom.
Christian groups have promised to put together a ballot initiative that would create a gay marriage ban in the state constitution. It may pass if enough people are scared into believing that the moral integrity of our nation is at stake rather than seeing this as a simple question of fairness and freedom.
But even if it passes, it won’t last long. It’s only a matter of time before the U.S. Supreme Court overturns these state bans as unconstitutional and give gay people the freedom to marry.
Matrimony is an incredibly personal decision, and there is great diversity in the choices that people make. Some people have spouses who are decades older than them. Some people marry prison inmates, residents of other countries or complete strangers. Some people get married and divorced five or six times, and others find mates outside of their race, faith or ethnicity. None of these unions may appeal to you, but each of us is free to let our hearts lead us to our spouse.
Gay couples who want to marry are just like any other couple. They’re in love, and they want to make a formal and solemn commitment to each other. I don’t believe our nation will continue to stand in the way of the freedom to choose a spouse.
Former Bronco Reggie Rivers (reggierivers2002@yahoo.com) is the host of “Global Agenda” Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. on KBDI-Channel 12. His column appears every Friday.
