|
In Defense
of Marriage
F. Patrick
O’Keeffe, Democratic Candidate for Congress
I want to
speak in defense of marriage. I believe that any adult couple should
have the legal right to be married to the person that they love. It
has been my good fortune to have been married for the past twenty-one
years. Nothing has brought joy, satisfaction, contentment, and
happiness into my life as consistently as being married to Marianne.
The fact
that many of our neighbors cannot get married saddens me. Life can be
difficult, and the support of a good partner is a wonderful blessing.
In most of the country our gay and lesbian neighbors cannot enjoy the
benefits of a legally recognized marriage. People who oppose letting
our neighbors marry say that they are doing it to defend and protect
marriage.
Whose
marriage are they protecting? Marianne and I are doing just fine
thank you, and a same sex couple moving in down the street will have
no real impact on our marriage. My marriage is a commitment between
me and the person who has chosen to share my life with me. What the
neighbors do will not harm it or affect it. What happens in my
neighbors’ marriage is generally their business, and does not affect
us.
Being
heterosexual, other people cannot affect my marriage. For our gay and
lesbian neighbors, people they have never met affect their right to
recognized marriages. They deny them rights that many of us take for
granted. Marriage is one of the most fundamental of relationships and
the law provides me many protections in finance, health, the care of
children, and property because I am married. These protections that
we take for granted become major concerns for our neighbors because
the government refuses to recognize their marriage.
Why do we
put gay and lesbian Americans through this hardship? Is it for the
children? Raising a child is truly hard work and having a committed
partner to share the effort is a great blessing. For all of the
stated concern for the children, I think energies would be better
directed helping all of the single parents struggling to make life
work rather than denying two loving parents to any child. Are they
afraid that gay parents raise gay children? This cannot be true
because so many of our gay neighbors have straight parents. Gay and
lesbian parents want the same thing as straight parents, to raise
healthy and happy children.
Is gay
marriage an affront to God? Who’s God? There are so many different
viewpoints on God, and that is just within my Christian faith. One of
the reasons America is a great country is because it is founded on the
principle of religious freedom. I am free to practice my religious
beliefs and you are free to practice yours. Isn't the religious
aspect of the commitment of marriage mostly between two people and
their God? Can someone else’s marriage really affect your
relationship with your God?
In the
end, isn’t marriage about love? Our decision to deny gay and lesbian
Americans the rights of marriage seems to me to be based in ignorance,
fear, and hate. Nothing great and enduring has ever been built on
ignorance, fear, and hate, not a marriage, and not a country. Love,
caring, and compassion can change the world. Isn’t it time for
America to once again demonstrate its greatness and provide marriage
equality to our gay and lesbian citizens? Defending marriage should
mean defending the rights of all Americans to marry. I fully support
marriage equality.
Comment on this
Commentary - Comments should be directed to Ken Ralph, Editor of
LCDC Media at his
email address. Comments will be posted
here.
|
