The battle for love and equality

Barack Obama's election on Nov. 4th made me so proud to be a part of this wonderful, open-minded, accepting nation and gave me so much hope for the future. Within 24 hours that pride in the good of America was reduced to shame when I found out that California voted to pass Proposition 8.

Proposition 8 was established to overturn the California Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage (after they overturned the original gay marriage ban, Proposition 22), claiming that doing so would protect children and the sanctity of marriage. Between June and November, 18,000 gay couples married in California.

I was very surprised to find out that Proposition 8 had passed. I had so much faith that this country wouldn't take that step backwards for gay rights. Unfortunately, it did pass, and it is no surprise that the biggest investors in support of the proposition were major religious organizations.

One of the main reasons people supported the ban was to try and protect the children. Proposition 8 supporters claimed that children would now have to learn about gay marriage in school because they already have to learn about marriage in society as part of their curriculum. I just don't see where this is a bad thing. Children should be raised to accept everyone, and if that includes a little education on gay marriage and gay relationships, then I think that those children will be better people because if it. Raising your children to be ignorant and prejudiced is no way to mold our nation's next generation.

Another reason so many supporters backed Proposition 8 was to protect the tradition of marriage. These people were considering marriage in the religious sense. Sure, if your religion doesn't support gay marriage, then that's fine, I highly doubt gay people would want to get married in a church like that anyway. But to only view marriage as a religious ritual is faulty. Straight people who are in no way religious can, and do, get married at the drop of a hat. Marriage may have been born as a religious ritual, but it has become, at least in our country, a governmental ritual. Married couples have a long list of rights that are not allowed to unmarried couples. These are the kinds of rights that gay couples want and deserve.

For example, if a husband and wife share all of their assets, and he makes more money than she does, when he dies, she has a legal right to that money. When someone in a long, successful gay relationship dies, their partner is left with nothing of legal claim. This is just one very general example of a right that people who love each other are denied just because they are gay. Supporters of Proposition 8 urge gay couples to get civil unions and domestic partnerships, but the rights those unions are granted aren't quite as extensive as marriage rights, and they are not valid in every state like a marriage is.

This is not just happening in California, or in Arizona or Florida, where similar propositions were passed. This is happening all over our country. Continuing to view marriage only as a religious ritual is denying many people human rights. The reason this battle rages is not because it is a battle of money or power. It is a battle of love and of equality, things that every American values. One day this will change, and people will view this kind of widespread sexual orientation discrimination just as they view widespread racial discrimination now: wrong, and a thing of the past.

On Nov. 15, cities across the country gathered for a nationwide protest against the passing of Proposition 8. I was lucky enough to attend Chicago's rally. You can see my photos at our website, www.neiuindependent.com.