Joshua Horton

In our world, hate and misunderstanding are every day occurrences. It seems I hear someone say things like that’s gay, faggot, homo, and other terms without the slightest bit of reservation. I notice these things because I want to notice. As much as we say humanity is progressing and we are a more caring and understanding generation than ever before, I see though the charade and find that this is false. If you don’t see it, it’s because to don’t want to see it.

In October, the Collegian ran an article that talked about gay and lesbian relationships here at SDSU. Not surprisingly, there was an uproar of students and individuals that obviously did not read the article to understand. This is the world we live in. A world were at one moment we can be saying that we follow God’s calling, yet in practice we fail at his ultimate request, to love one another and to do well by all our neighbors as we would have them do for us.

Gay and Lesbian relationships are not just an issue here, but a growing national issue. Every month it seems another governmental body decides that civil unions are right thing for equality. Places like Vermont, Quebec, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and others have all legalized civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

Some of you might be wondering, what is a civil union? The answer is simply rights for gay and lesbian couples such as the right to automatic inheritance, right to visit your partner in the hospital and make medical decision on their behalf. They also allow rights to be a stepparent, the right to buy and own property together, and the right to bury and cremate.

All in all, under federal law there are about 1,000 laws that accrue to married couples. Should people who choose this lifestyle receive the same rights as married couples? My answer is why not. If these two people love each other and would do anything for the other, isn’t that worth something? Anti-gay and lesbian groups have long said that any allowance or formal acknowledgement of these people would be the destruction of the man-woman relationship that our society was founded on. When I was in debate, we had a going joke that if you take stuff out of context enough everything would lead to nuclear war. The truth is that this same logic seems to be taking the issue far beyond the truth and reality. I seriously doubt it would be the end of the world if all states and governments allowed civil unions. Besides that, hasn’t the sacred joining of a man and a women already been disgraced by reality TV?

The issue of civil unions is one of politics. Our laws should reflect equal rights for all. Religion still has to right to tell you what you should believe. Fortunately that right is protected and will never be changed. What is in trouble is not religion, but the rights of individuals to live their lives as they choose.

We talk of how united we are and how much we need to work together to protect ourselves from those that would harm us. Yet, deep down we still choose to divide ourselves on the basis of choices, when we should we should be uniting on the basis of being human beings.

Reach Joshua Horton at [email protected].