Guest Editorial
Weapons of
Mass Distraction
By Chad R. Maxwell
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual/transgender
(GLBT) history is being made all around us.
Recently, the Federal Marriage
Amendment (FMA) lost in the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 50-48.
Although a victory for the GLBT community, the amendment should
never have even made it to the floor. This amendment would have
written discrimination into the Constitution by denying homosexuals
the right to marry, forever.
Cheryl Jacques of the Human
Rights Campaign, a gay and lesbian advocacy group, said "I
think it is outrageous and frankly surreal that at the 11th hour
in this debate, they are literally rewriting the Constitution
on the back of a napkin."
Although the amendment never
stood much chance of passing, it was an unprincipled attempt
by the conservative right to try to win more votes in the coming
election by using a minority group's progress as a political
pawn. President Bush and his coalition of the deceptive attempted
to mask issues such as the economy, the war with Iraq and terrorism
by using gay marriage as a political wedge. Clearly, the idea
flopped.
A special thanks goes to senators
like Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, who described these
disturbing practices as Bush's "weapons of mass distraction."
Although the issue of gay marriage
has received much attention lately, perhaps too much, conservatives
and the fundamental right continue to reproduce the same lies
concerning the idea. These lies beg to be rebutted.
Allowing gays to marry is not
a threat to civilization. According to the American Anthropological
Association (AAA), "The result of more than a century of
anthropological research on households, kinship relationships,
and families, across cultures and through time, provides no support
whatsoever for the view that either civilizations or viable social
orders depend upon marriage as an exclusively heterosexual institution.
Rather, anthropological research supports the conclusion that
a vast array of family types, including families built upon same-sex
partnerships, can contribute to stable and humane societies."
But maybe the AAA, made up
of thousands of scholars who study society full-time, is wrong.
After all, when I drive down Tower Road and see the hurtful marquee
that says "marriage = one man + one woman" I might
begin to wonder. Then I realize that the marquee is simply a
weapon of ignorance, not fact, and that the AAA is absolutely
correct.
Allowing gays to marry will
in no way harm or devalue heterosexual unions. There is no theory
concerning the conservation of love, as there is a theory for
the conservation of mass — meaning that my homosexual love
for my partner will not rob a heterosexual couple of their love
for one another.
Furthermore, by denying gays
the right to marry, a wrongful value-judgment is taking place.
That judgment says that a heterosexual union is more deserving
and superior, even if just in a linguistic sense, than a homosexual
union.
The bottom line is that the
use of gay marriage as a political tool is not about protecting
children, the sacred institution of marriage or preserving our
society. The forced vote on the FMA was simply an exercise in
hate and fear. Denying people the economic, social and legal
benefits of marriage perpetuates and promotes painful myths of
promiscuity and social unnaturalness, all in order to get a few
more votes.
And just because the FMA was
defeated this time, does not mean it will not come around again.
In the fall, the House will discuss the issue of marriage equality
and in the next three months at least 11 states are forcing ballot
initiatives to write discrimination into their state constitutions.
With this in mind, be sure
to objectively research all the issues. Then, come November,
cast your vote and be proud. But, definitely remember and be
wary of the powerful weapons of mass distraction and the weapons
of ignorance.
Chad R. Maxwell is a member
of Rainbow Allliance and a graduate student at the University
of Florida. Versions of this article have appeared in the Gainesville
Sun and in the Independent Florida Alligator.
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