Don Gaines

My Quick Take on Proposition 8

First and foremost, let’s exclude any moral or religious argument from my position. As far as I understand this law and the allowance of civil unions/marriage by the government it has absolutely nothing to do with a moral/religious position on sexuality. *It’s about taxes, insurance, healthcare, etc. Those things are basically all economic…not religious. If you still think America’s a ‘Christian’ nation then I’d say you’re sorely mistaken. We are not a religious state…that’s kind of why our country was founded.

Also we need to exclude the idea of homosexuality being a choice. That’s not how I view it, you might think I’m wrong and that’s fine but just understand my position. I never chose to be heterosexual, it’s just there. The things I do choose: how many partners I can have, what terms stipulate proper sexual interaction, whether or not to abstain, etc.

That being said, I say we do away with government ‘marriage’ and call it a ‘civil union.’ Marriage, as most people tend think of it, is something religious. That’s fine, I think that can be part of it too. If you want a religious ceremony to celebrate your union then go for it, but that particular ceremony should in no way be tied to the governmental benefits you’ll be receiving. The way to those benefits (or whatever you want to call them) should be civil unions. Civil unions means every single joined couple can have the same benefits regardless of sexuality or religion…simply because they’re people.

Someone asked me about polygamy… I don’t think there’s an issue here at all. In opposition to your sexual preference, the number of partners you have is a choice. It may be cultural or traditional for you to have more than one partner but a civil union, ideally, would be regulated and could only cover you and a spouse. Now surely some polygamists would be upset by this but as far as I understand polygamy it’s usually a religious/cultural tradition…or choice.

My sister likes to bring up, “Well what if someone claims they have a natural sexual attraction to children and it’s not a choice for them?” That’s very possible but this situation involves an adult and a non-consenting child. I also would say these attractions are different than the most basic hetero/homo attractions. They involve a very specific thing: age. I’m not sure being attracted to age can be considered anything but a choice. Furthermore, the actions that would proceed out of an attraction to children are completely different than the ones that take place between two consenting adults of any sexual preference. Morally, ethically we should take issue with selfishness and those who take advantage of the weak, no matter what the ‘natural’ attraction may be. I’d be pissed if my friends were selfishly out having sex with different guys/girls every night.

I grew up in a town where people still have problems with interracial couples. It’s practically an abomination there. One of my aunt’s was ignored by her grandfather for the larger part of her life because she married a man of color. Absolutely stupid. During the time of slavery people held the same attitude many hold now towards homosexuals. Eventually we learned how ignorant we were being and that no race of people can be the demise of our society.

Selfishness, materialism and meat eating…now those, those could be the downfall of us all.

*at my college married couples got a discount, at least that’s what i was told. can’t find it on their site but I’m pretty sure it’s true.