On marriage equality...did you know that divorce rates are highest among evangelical's. i don't know if that's actually true but i picked it up somewhere. The other one i picked up was that divorce rates are higher in conservative states...i wonder if that is true, actually i think that one is. On a personal level here on St. Croix it does seem that most of my liberal friends that are in long marriages have been married a long long time while most of my conservative friends in second long marriages have all been divorced at least once. Another anomaly i suppose and one not based upon reliable data, but it makes for interesting rumination.
Anyway, this past week was historic in ways most of us on the left never expected. President Obama came out in favor of marriage equality and set off a fire storm amongst those for and against.
Before i go on and just to make it perfectly clear i am in favor of marriage equality and see no reason whatsoever to think that two men or two women marrying will ever affect the institution of marriage between a man and a woman in a negative manner. In fact i think it will only strengthen the institution by encouraging more people to make permanent commitments and i applaud the president for openly expressing his views.
In many ways i have always thought that a homosexual man or woman hiding in a straight marriage is grossly unfair to the other partner. They can never love that person the way they should or deserve and live a lie their entire lives making everyone unhappy. Why would anyone condone or encourage these types of relationships? Why not encourage a healthy relationship between two adults that want to love each other without hiding.
People like Pat Robertson say the sexual union of two men or women brings disease and pain... well i hope he knows that it can bring disease and pain between a man and a woman just as easily. Syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and herpes can wreck havoc. Domestic violence, emotional violence, alcoholism, drug abuse and anger can ruin childrens lives in a heterosexual marriage. Divorce, death there are all sorts of instances where marriage falls apart unexpectedly. Just because a man and woman are married is no guarantee that a family is intact or that the children will come out unscathed. And the same will go for man,man and woman, woman marriages also.
When those on the right talk about the institution of marriage they see this unreal vision of family bliss. Take off the rose colored glasses and support marriage equality cause their getting married is never going to affect your marriage in any way shape or form. Marriage equality will probably cut down on sexually transmitted disease and create more stable communities.
The positive part of marriage equality is that two people that love each other can legally tend to each others needs and the needs of their family without having to worry that the rug will be pulled out from underneath them.
i read a story recently of two men who had been together for decades. They had invested in properties, built a business and made a life together. When one got sick as they got older the other was not allowed to make decisions and the hated sister in law came in and wrecked havoc. She had always hated the companion and his relationship with her brother so she denied him access to his lover while in the hospital because she was the next of kin. When his partner died she took him to court and got half of the estate, ruining his business, taking his home and disrupting his life. Had they been allowed to legally marry this never would have happened. They spent a lifetime together and this one vindictive sister came in and made the survivors life a living hell.
But now i get to the real crux of this piece which is that St. Croix should legalize same sex marriage immediately. Can you imagine how this will boost our economy? Everyone wants to get married in a tropical paradise and because marrying legally for gays is limited to a few states we could be at the cutting edge of a booming industry. Just think of all the occupations that would be impacted positively...flowers, transportation, housing, food, clothing, entertainment, lawyers, judges, real estate people and the list goes on.
So tell your friends we should legalize same sex marriage. Spread it around, talk it up, i'll bet it will make us a boom island once again.
See ya next week.
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