invalid_love jennifer The ancient philosopher Aristophanes believed that in the beginning, humans were the equivalent of two people combined; they each had two heads, four legs, and four arms. These humans had two halves. The two halves were either both male, both female, or male and female. When the Greek god Zeus punished humans by splitting them all in half, each half then spent its life searching for its other half. While this myth is not about sexuality, it could be interpreted as describing sexual orientation. There are homosexuals, heterosexuals, and bisexuals. Unfortunately, these different kinds of people aren,t all given equal rights and opportunities. When two heterosexuals fall in love, they are allowed to be legally married and spend the rest of their lives together, enjoying all the benefits of marriage. When two homosexual people fall in love, they are denied marital rights, and, although they can very well spend the rest of their lives together, they won,t have all the rights and opportunities that heterosexuals will have regarding marriage. This is a great injustice in our society today. However, the homosexual population has put up a tremendous fight, and 40% of the U.S. population supports homosexual marital rights. The issue of homosexual marriage has been brought to the courts many times, and, in some states, homosexuals are being allowed to make civil unions, which gives them some of the rights that marriage provides. But this is not good enough. Homosexual people should have all the rights that heterosexuals have. People, regardless of their sex, should be able to choose who they marry; whether it be a man or a woman. As long as there have been humans, there has been homosexuality. In Ancient Europe, homosexuality was expressed as well as accepted. Plato wrote a play, Symposium, which included two long term homosexual relationships, in which one of the pairs was buried together. In Ancient Crete, a homosexual would announce one,s love for his or her beloved. After they,d chased in the country side and made love, the witnesses would share a meal and return to town, where the relationship was acknowledged and praised. In Ancient Sparta, many relationships developed between older well educated men and young boys of good character. These pairs were known as the inspirator and the listener. The two stood by each other until death. While some may think that homosexuality is a fad of some sort, making its way through a decade or two, it is really "a minority but perfectly natural characteristic on the human spectrum of sexuality. It is not something one chooses, it is something one is. The law protects an individual,s right to marry whomever they wish. Courts all over the country have recognized homosexual,s relationships as valid. Former House member Honorable Henry A. Waxman has said, "Inequality among homosexuals, regarding marriage, is promoting discrimination against individuals who seek the same responsibilities and opportunities other Americans seek when they form a lifelong union with someone they love. In addition, Vermont,s Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to equal rights. A homosexual,s marital rights have been acknowledged within the constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court stated in 1974, "This court has long recognized that freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In 1996, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled, "By refusing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the court is discriminating sexually and violating the equal protection clause of the Hawaii Constitution. At this point, in this homophobic world, it would be incredibly bold for any court to legalize same-sex marriages, because of the common cultural thinking that exists today. It will take a change in this common thinking for any court to make this ruling, without there being riots and violence and outrage afterwards. One of the arguments that anti-homosexual marriage groups make is that homosexuals should not be allowed to marry because it betrays traditional American values. However, like the reference to the Greek god Zeus earlier in the paper, the traditional American family is a myth. As said by the National Organization for Women(NOW), "Tradition cannot justify discrimination. Not long ago, marriage was traditionally limited to members of the same race and religion, and married women were virtually the legal property of their husbands. While some people,s definition of a family is a breadwinner father married to a homemaker wife with two biological kids, a more realistic definition would be two or more people who share responsibility and love. The traditional American family ideal has a lot of holes. Many more kids live in other types of families: with a single parent, with lesbian or gay parents, with grandparents or other relatives, or in blended step-families. Plus, a lot of children, particularly girls, have suffered from physical or sexual abuse from within the home. The truth is, homosexual families are just as American as heterosexual families. Louise Marry, a lesbian mom, says, "We care about our kids, we maintain our civic responsibilities, we try to present good role models for our kids, and we make mistakes, just like everyone else. When heterosexuals marry, there is an underlying expectation for what roles each person will play. Although these expectations have faded significantly over time, they are still there. The woman will do most of the housework while the man pays the bills. When homosexuals marry, these expectations don,t exist, and each person ends up doing what they,re good at, or what they enjoy doing. All families are different, and all families are valid. Of all the arguments that homosexuals give for their rights to marriage, the most basic, and most important of them all, is simply that homosexuals are entitled to all the rights that heterosexuals have. Without legal rights to marry, same-sex couples do not have rights like family health coverage, child custody, tax benefits, and pension plans. Even if two homosexuals have been together for more than twenty years, they still must check "single on all official documents. Says Paula Eltelbrick of the national gay and lesbian quarterly, "Marriage defines certain relationships as more valid than all others. Lesbian and gay relationships are always at the bottom of the heap of social acceptance and importance." Giving homosexuals marital licenses would ease the discrimination that they regularly suffer from otherwise. Paula Martinac, author, says, "Lesbian and gay romantic experience has been erased, ignored, invalidated, or viewed as adult (that is, pornographic). When the lesbian television hero Ellen playfully and jokingly kissed her straight woman friend, the show began running an advisory warning about its adult content." In Omaha, Nevada, Reverend Jimmy Creech won a battle in court to perform same-sex unions. After he performed a ceremony between two lesbians, he went on trial before the Methodist court, and was found not guilty of violating church law. However, this didn,t stop his Bishop, Joel Martinez, from firing him. Says Creech, "It,s very painful. I have loved being here. It,s not so much a fight that I,m fighting. It,s a ministry I,m trying to be faithful to, and I may need to find a new way to do that." If same-sex marriage is legalized, it will be a wakeup call to people like Joel Martinez. A wakeup call telling everyone that discrimination like this will simply not be tolerated. Marital discrimination has occured within other groups of people throughout history. In the 1500,s, Jews and slaves during Spanish Inquisition were not allowed to marry. In Prussia, in the 1700,s, blind people were denied marital rights. Even in the US, it wasn,t until 1967 that the Supreme Court made the ruling that made interracial marriage legal. All these wrongs have been righted. It is time for the courts to rise above the public opinion and take a stand for the common good. It is time to right the last wrong of marital discrimination. In conclusion, homosexuality is just another part of human nature, and human life. Homosexuality has been around for as long as humans have been in existence. Over the centuries, people with different physical qualities or disabilities have been denied the right to marry. This includes homosexuals. The law protects a homosexual,s right to marriage. Courts all over the country have acknowledged that homosexual relationships are valid. Homosexuals are entitled to all the rights that heterosexuals have, and people should be able to marry who they love, whether they are a man or a woman. Regardless of all this, homosexuals cannot marry. Why not? Because our country has a disease, and one that is hard to get rid of. Homophobia. Let,s stop being afraid of something that is, to some extent, inside of us all. Marriage is an option that everyone deserves to have. Let's get over the last hump on the road that will take us to total equality. ~juh-nell 000617 ... derek 40% support same-sex rights? me thinks not darlin'... Probably some guy with a big purse full of bricks (and lipstick and breast implants) was standing beside some of these 40% hetero's when they agreed to this! I really have no problem with the majority of the gay inclines, but it is inherently wrong for same sex "parents" to want to raise children, and subject same child to a homosexual upbringing and influences as perfectly normal. This will just subject the child to endless taunting and abuse from their "friends", children of normal hetero households. Dislike this fact as you are sure to want to, but this is life on earth, and it sure as hell is not supported by 40% of the populace. 000619 ... silentbob derek you're a fuckin idiot this is the year 2000 and we are living in a country where people should be able to live as they choose. if parents want to raise their children to hate gay people, then gay people can raise their children to hate straight people. When will you realize that? How can you, just some horny guy, say "No, you are not allowed to raise a child the way you see fit. It's "WRONG." Who the hell are you to judge? When will you come to terms with the fact that there is an overpopulation problem? people are having way too many kids and so that means that more and more homosexuals are going to be showing up. with the steady rise of numbers of gay people, that decreases the number of kids being born. that's what the planet needs: LESS PEOPLE! if everyone was straight, there'd be so many people on the planet that we'd all start eating each other. And why do you automatically assume that two gay parents would DEFINITELY teach their child to be gay? As open minded as gay people must be to be open to something like homosexuality and not just kill themselves, then obviously they're going to want their child to be open minded. You're saying "Gay parents should not teach children to be like them." Well who the fuck wants a bunch of gay haters walking the planet? 000619 ... derek well, sb, 'tis the life of an idiot for me. You is welcome to your opinion, and believe it or not, I do respect your right to voice same. That being said, and me not even being a religious zealot, what a crock that a child should be brought up thinking that mom and dad both have a dick! and that it is morally A-OK. if everyone was queer, you and I would never be bantering back and forth here bucko. Sometimes I like being an idiot though... 000621 ... silentbob there are no SHOULDS here, derek. I'm saying it isnt WRONG. just because it's different doesn't make it bad. maybe in some cases the two same-sex parents would teach the child to have same-sex ideals or something, if you can say that, but i don't recall my parents ever tellling me that i SHOULD find a girl, or that i SHOULD be straight. i just am cuz girls attract me. I'm not saying anything SHOULD happen a certain way. i'm just saying people SHOULDN'T get all testy with gay people just because they don't think something is gross that everyone else thinks is gross. it's only natural that people want to raise a young child and gay people are people as well, they just like members of the same sex. it SHOULDNT be up to us to tell them what they can and cannot do. 000622 ... silentbob and also, i'm not saying EVERYONE should be gay. but we should let those who want to be, because we are no one to decide the lives of other people. and its not like gay parents raising children to "be gay" (if one can do that) would really make EVERYONE gay. it would just help the overpopulation problem that is destroying the planet. 000622 ... silentbob im bitchy and annoying. and i sound like im saying people choose their sexual preference and i didn't mean that at all when i typed any of this shite. oh well its late. goodnite. 001105 ... Barrett I had the same disscusion with my girlfriend the other night. I don't know if you two are up for it, but, drunken sex helped us agree (or just stop argueing anyway) 001106 ... j_blue anyways, i think homophobic retards tend to think of us as pervs and not responsible normal joes. thats the thing. they cant see that we can be nurturing and cool, and thats the real problem. if they did, they would be just as bothered by their ideas as the rest of us. 001106 ... silentbob yeah, it always seems to happen that way. hang out with someone, find out later they are gay and suddenly you look at things a lot differently. i got into an argument with a girl about civil rights. she said it was different for blacks because they cant help being black,but you can help being gay. i screamed at her and made a big angry ass of myself. i said, "TALK to them. ask THEM if they can help it, actually interact with them" she said, "No thanks." and i said, "Then don't argue your point. dont say anything." she was afraid. 001106 ... j_blue she was trippy ignorant. actually, i have a theory though. stated simply, its that experienced hardship tends to coerce an individual to generate art. like how great artists usually experienced some kind of torment or great pain or something. ok, its not a theory, but a hypothesis, but whatever. however, applying the logic, removing the hardship removes the impetus to make beauty. i am worried that the utter fabulousness of the gay population will dwindle with the growing normalcy of gayness. i also think that gay marriage will come about, in those terms, w/in 2 generations. the next generation will remove the discriminatory practices of the current times (but stop short of civil recognition of gay marriage), and the one after will not see the point in differentiating. heterosexuals currently are comfortable with treating homosexuals fairly, but are afraid to endorse the use the traditional term for the (so called) non traditional coupling. 001106 what's it to you? who go blather from