A Day Without Gays

I just noticed an interesting Facebook notice about an upcoming boycott, Day Without a Gay.

To protest anti-gay laws, Day Without a Gay is encouraging those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered communities--along with their friends and allies--to "call in gay" from work on December 10th and go volunteering instead.

The idea behind the boycott is that since LGBT workers and citizens contribute over $700 billion to the U.S. economy every year, they should be given the same rights (namely marriage rights) as other groups that contribute just as much.

(Opinion alert)

This is a splendid idea and I wish boycotts such as this one were organized more often. It is a great way to protest for a specific cause. I hope that everybody who supports same-sex marriage will participate.

I figure this is a good opportunity to explicitly outline my views on same-sex marriage, as I'm not sure I've done so yet in this blog (damn the economy!).

My View on Same-Sex Marriage

One of my best friends is gay. Several more of my good friends are gay or have gay relatives. I grew up doing theatre, so suffice it to say that I've met my fair share of gay individuals. I have much compassion for the LGBT community and their desire for equal marriage rights.

In a way I support gay marriage and in a way I do not. In a way I support any and every marriage. In another way, I don't support any type of marriage at all. Let me explain.

I do not buy the theories about same-sex marriage destroying our country. Honestly, I don't think America will ever have a population problem caused by lack of procreation (if you do, you need to get out more, or watch some MTV). As for child bearing, I also do not buy the theory that a child needs a mommy and a daddy. Perhaps they did in ancient times, but things are different now. We are a modern society and children can be raised effectively by effective people. After all, if a child needs a mommy and a daddy, why should couples with children be legally allowed to divorce?

Therefore, in the sense that I have no problem with same-sex couples existing, I support gay marriage. Because of this, I think it's great that states like Massachusetts and Connecticut are beginning to realize that they have no right to deny marriage licenses to any two citizens and are therefore "legalizing gay marriage".

Obviously then, I do not support a constitutional ammendment banning gay marriage by defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. The federal government has no reason to define marriage and therefore no right to do so. Therefore, I also do not support a constitutional ammendment (or any federal law) legalizing gay marriage nationwide. In this sense, I do not support "same-sex marriage", as the term often refers to federal legalization.

Same-sex marriage is a constitutional issue. The problem is in the constitutional interpretation: does any branch of government have the right to deny two individuals from entering into certain types of contracts based on their sex? The obvious answer is no. Therefore, in a sense, same sex marriage is already "legal".

The fact that most states do not permit same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses is an issue for the courts. Since states are denying people a consitutional legal right, they need to be sued. A reasonable judge who makes decisions based on the constitution rather than on moral or Biblical trivialities would rule that no state has a right to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples. This is how same-sex marriage needs to be legalized.

In an even more different and obscure way, I reject the notion of marriage as a whole. Why does the government need to recognize marriage at all? Are the special tax breaks and other perks really so vital to our society?

Americans (straight and otherwise) have become far too obsessed with these little rectangular pieces of paper that say we are married. Aren't rings supposed to be our society's traditional symbol of marriage? If legal marriage did not come with such an unnessesarily large load of goodies, the gay community wouldn't be so up in arms about it, nor would anyone else. Even if some strange person wanted to marry a cat, he could give that cat a ring and feel just as special as everyone else. But, as the government so loves to do, we have begun to annihilate the real meaning of marriage by making it into a piece of paper.

If the federal government didn't give unnecessary perks to married couples, same-sex marriage would not be an issue. If a same-sex couple wanted to grant each other the right to visit in a hospital emergency room, they could do so with a lawyer. Anybody can. As you hopefully can see, my point is that the real solution to legalizing same sex marriage is for the government to delete any existing marriage laws, get out of our private lives, and let people of any sex sign any legal contract they want.

Once again: I support gay marriage, I don't support it, I support every marriage, and I support no marriages at all. I love being complicated.