Marriage and sex are not illegal - but only for a select group

DE Staff Reporter
Daily Egyptian

Living the rest of one's life with the one they love is not uncommon; and, most of the time, the courts recognize it when the two decide to get married.

It is a great thing when two people commit their love to one another before a minister and God. Love between a man and a woman is accepted without any question, but when the couple is of the same sex it is against the law for them to pledge their love for one another.

Not anymore in Canada. Canada now allows same-sex marriages, legally.

This change in Canadian law should serve as a wake-up call for America. We are supposed to be a country based on liberty and freedom for all, yet we restrict rights of citizens every chance we get.

The United States has begun issuing "certificates" to homosexual couples, but what good does that do? It does nothing more than "pacify" couples to have a piece of paper to hold on to. It does not give them any legal rights as a marriage certificate would a heterosexual couple.

In Cook County, one such certificate is offered, but that is not enough. First, if the certificate is going to be offered, it needs to have some legal authority for the couple in the entire state, and from there the U.S. needs to change laws to make it legal for homosexual couples to love and live the same way heterosexual couples do.

Speakers have made comments about gay couples being immoral and sinners against God, but that is the exact reason sexual orientation should not be intertwined with government. Religious beliefs belong to individuals, and the law should not dictate someone's lifestyle based on religious views.

America needs to come around and acknowledge that same-sex couples should have the same rights as any other couple. Until that day, at least one positive thing in the fight for gay rights has occurred in recent weeks.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas sodomy laws making it not against the law to have consensual sex with a person of the same sex.

Responding to a call of a possible intruder, police officers barged in on a gay couple having sex in their home, behind closed, locked doors. The two men were arrested and ordered to pay a fine. They decided to fight the issue and, after five years, won their battle.

In a vote of 6-3, the law was said to be discriminatory. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority: "The petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives."

They have never been more accurate. What is conducted behind closed doors between two adults is their business. If it were an adult and a minor then the law should step in and handle the case accordingly, but to tell a grown person they are committing a crime for doing the same thing a heterosexual couple does is ridiculous and unfair.

No matter if a couple wants to get married or simply engage in sexual intercourse, it is not the state's right and responsibility to tell them they cannot do it based on a religious belief.

Striking down sodomy laws was just a short step in a long walk. Let's follow Canada's lead and allow homosexuals to marry and let them decide their own fate, not the government.

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