all the news that print will fit.
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| notes from underground - societal whispers all the news that print will fit. |
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Thursday, February 05, 2004 np: the dead boys - young loud and snotty these past few days have been full of a plethora of events that have been in turns head shaking and exciting. cheers, especially, to the massachutsetts high court. they have taken the stance that i feel is correct, both from a constitutional perspective and one of basic civil rights. i can imagine accusations of hyperbole since the court invoked the spirit of both plessy v. ferguson and brown v. topeka board of education by citing that 'civil unions' for gay couples are unconstitutional in that they set a precedence of 'separate but equal.' brown, of course, struck down the idea of 'separate but equal' in public schools back in 1954. it was obvious to the warren court, as it seems to be obvious to the current mass. court, that separate instutions are obviously and inherently incapable of being equal. this is why i have come to the conclusion that the absolute best path for the government is to stop defining marriage. if two heterosexual people can come under the umbrella of what is known as a 'common law marriage' by living together for seven years, without an official ceremony, then the government should not be able to intervene in preventing partner rights from being granted (along with other rights) simply based on the sex of the parties involved. marriage itself is a religious ceremony and a beautiful one at that. however, even if a heterosexual couple gets married in a church/synagogue/mosque/religious institution/etc., they still must obtain a marriage license and go through other requirements to be recognized as such by the government. my solution is this: make 'civil unions' the standard of the land. civil unions will contain all the rights heretofore contained within the title of 'marriage' as the united states currently recognizes it. if one wishes to be married then they may contact a religious institution of their choice. religions are very obviously private organizations and if they feel that they wish not to perform homosexual marriages, then they would be free to do so. it is their right as a private entity within our borders. therefore, the so called 'sanctity of marriage' would be protected by religious institutions as they choose, while the insulting and demeaning denial of partner rights would end for homosexual couples. the rights of the majority would be upheld (the majority in this case being all of humanity) while the rights of the minority (groups within society that oppose homosexual marriage) would be upheld. i, for one, fear the potential federal marriage amendment that is being tossed around as a possibility. i do not so much fear the possibility of it passing the muster of state ratification as i do simply the un-needed division that it could wedge between sections of our society. my biggest disappointment in nearly every, single democratic candidate for president thus far has been their absolutely gutless refusal to take a positive and strong stand for the rights of homosexuals. dean tried to ride his 'civil unions' to the forefront, but i don't see that as being enough anymore. granted, i in no way represent the thought of mainstream america in a lot of respects. but i do feel that in the end, there are very few who can doubt the very real, if intangible, power of human love. to me, that is what this debate is about. -- since this is february and therefore black history month, i have taken up my goal of yearly expanding on my knowledge of black american culture and history by reading some pertinent piece of the mosaic. this year, it is American Slavery: 1619 - 1877 by peter kolchin. it is a very interesting analyzation of the social and economic forces that fostered the onset of the new world's "peculiar institution." it's a bit academic, but the primary source material, along with the fascinating numbers and figures surrounding the evolution of slavery in america, is astounding. if you have thought about delving more into the history of slavery in america and would like a good, general overview to begin with, this is an excellent book with which to start. and if you do that, please purchase it through this site. all money raised through amazon purchases on this site go towards a charity of my choice. during the christmas holidays you guys helped raise (along with my contribution and rounding up to the nearest multiple of ten dollar amount) $70.26 for the Triad Health Project AIDS charity here in greensboro. pat yourselves on the back. and thank you for making me feel like this site is worth something every now and again. posted by J. Neas | 2/05/2004 09:05:00 PM
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