HAPPY MARRIAGE?

The other day, over a friendly cup of tea and cake, a friend asked me ‘what’s your stance on gay marriage?’

I couldn’t answer her.  I really didn’t know.  I guess… I hadn’t given it much thought… I suppose, like some people, that unless something directly relates to me, I don’t pay it much mind.

Maybe that’s what I’m guilty of; ignorance? Zero care factor? Who knows?

What I do know, is her simple question really set me thinking.

This issue just seems to transcend so many boundaries, doesn’t it? Moral, cultural, political, religious.  It is so broad, and seemingly, so simple.

Let’s look at the moral angle, shall we? 

This country is built on a Christian foundation, and the good book states – remember, this is supposed to be the word of God, which coincidently, is determined by men – that being gay is wrong. 

But is it wrong? 

I think it’s quite simple, really.  At the end of the day, we ALL forget this one thing: it’s a sexual preference.  That’s it.  A sexual preference; and I feel that what goes on behind closed doors should remain there.  Who you partner up with shouldn’t matter.

However, what we have is this sub-culture growing amongst us that slam ‘gay rights’ into our faces at every turn.  They just want to be treated as equals, not outcasts. Yet we treat the issue like something we’re ashamed of.  We hide from it.  We don’t talk about it.  We’re embarrassed and shocked by the very idea.  We push it into closets, and pretend it doesn’t exist.

Gay people are no different to you and I.  They eat, sleep and shit exactly the same way we do.  They go to work, hold down jobs and pursue careers and education.  They drive cars, pay taxes and have double mocha lattes, just like we do.

The have children, raise them, send them to school and educate them, get involved in sport, book clubs, cooking classes and go to concerts.

They are not different to us.  It’s just a sexual preference. 

The issue of gay rights pops up into my life every day, in some way, shape or form, and I don’t really understand what all the fuss is about.  I don’t stand on the top of my house screaming ‘I’m a heterosexual!!’ for the world to hear.  I just am; the end.

What’s the big deal?

Well, I’m not judged, persecuted, put down, discriminated against, beaten or neglected for being a heterosexual.  I’m considered ‘normal’.  Society accepts me, because I fit the mould that has been hammered into our heads since the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.

So, because someone’s sexual preference is different, are they not acceptable? 

Sure, there are sexual preferences that are not acceptable, such as paedophilia.  In the mind of the paedophile, they are perfectly normal.  However, in the mind of society, they most certainly are not; they are criminals.

Being gay is not a crime, nor should it be.  However, people are still punished by society for this choice.

Therefore, we see the birth of this sub-culture that I mentioned before.  A collection of people, some of whom are ‘loud and proud’, and some of whom are still hiding in fear; all in the hope that one day, society will deem them to be ‘normal’, and they can get on with their lives.

Going back to my friend and our afternoon tea, she said to me ‘I don’t see why they need to be married.  They have all the rights that married people have… what’s the difference?’

‘Well…if they’ve got all the rights of married people, then what’s the big deal?  Give them the right to marry.’ Was my reply. 

Seemed simple enough to me, and my friend had no answer for this.

‘A gay couple can take out a mortgage together, buy a house, raise a family, provide for that family, and if they split up, I believe, though I’m not 100% sure, that they have the same rights as a defacto couple has.  At the end of the day, it’s just a piece of paper.  Why not permit it?’

‘It just doesn’t seem right…’

‘That’s the ignorant Christian in you speaking, not the human being.’ I pointed out.  ‘What would you do if the shoe was on the other foot?’

How does the saying go?  To truly understand another person’s journey, you need to walk a mile in their shoes?

How would I feel if I was a part of the minority?  If I was the one that was looked down upon by society for something that is none of their fucking business?  Who I have special cuddles with and how is nobody’s business but my own.  It’s private, and it’s mine.

How would I feel if I was not permitted to marry?

Charlie would possibly be happier. J

Seriously though; how would you feel if you were not allowed to marry the one you loved?  Some of you reading this would know EXACTLY how that feels, because this plight would related directly to you. 

However, some of you would be at various stages of your life right now.  Some of you would have been married for many years, some of you for just a few.  How would you feel if you weren’t able to be married to your partner?  Think about that… where would your life be?  Would it be the same?

You’ve built a life for yourselves; contributing members of society that just live a peaceful, simple existence.  Why should you not be able to do something so natural?

How would you make people understand your problem?  How would you resolve it?

Possibly exactly the same was as gay activists do.  Scream it from the rooftops and ask for political intervention and changes to the law.

So, we enter the political arena.  #sigh

This issue has become such a political hot potato, that no one really wants to touch, for fear of discrimination.  For fear of reprisals from the very society that put them in office.  For fear of offending someone.

This seemingly simple decision gets placed into the hands of the nonsensical clowns that are supposed to be running this country.  Either side of the political house cannot get their shit together enough to make good policy now, how could they possibly address something that is so seemingly simple.

Our Prime Minister comes out (pardon the pun) the other week and announces that her government will not be supporting the issue of gay marriage.  Good on her for standing on her moral high ground.  Must be cold and lonely up there…

Firstly; this from a woman that said we would have no carbon tax.  Pffft.  She bent over (again, pardon the pun) for The Greens on that issue, why not the issue of gay marriage as well?  Secondly; this from a woman that will proudly stand on her beliefs, until politics requires her to change them.

In the end, this issue is left to a group of elected officials to vote on.  Our representatives, representing us.  Yay for democracy.

So, I suppose the answer to my friends’ original question is this: I don’t give a shit.  It doesn’t directly affect me, but if doing something – so seemingly simple - makes a shit load of people happy, then why not do it?

What harm is it going to do?

Love, peace and equality.