The Indianapolis Star reported on the front page Aug. 22 that three homosexual couples were expected to file a lawsuit demanding the right to marry in Indiana. The government should allow homosexual couples to marry and receive the same benefits heterosexual couples regularly enjoy.
Kevin: Marriage serves the purpose to bond two people together in front of their family and friends. Supposedly, this bond is for eternity. Maybe it's just me, but I just don't see why gay couples would want to enter an agreement where it is proven that over half of the attempts end in failure. But I do commend those preparing to battle the courts.
Mat: Why aren't gays able to get married in this state? We already let people get married again after five failed marriages. We let pregnant people and people who already have kids get married. We let drunk and stupid people get married. What's wrong with gays getting married? I guess our "morals" are too high for that.
Kevin: The same Indianapolis Star article lists Gov. Frank O'Bannon as one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. I had the opportunity to meet O'Bannon this past April at a statewide gay activists fund-raising event. He was probably only one of a handful of heterosexual men in the room and during his speech he noted how the fight for equality has come a long way, but has a while to go until true equality is reached. It'll be interesting to see how O'Bannon reacts to the lawsuit, but since Indiana is a mostly conservative state, something tells me the complaint will fall upon deaf ears.
Mat: I don't see any problem with the marriage of same-sex couples. If they are two consenting adults who are not harming one another then who cares? Let them get married and have a gay ol' life together.
Kevin: A recent New York Times announcement declared that beginning in September, the paper plans to publish same-sex commitment ceremony notices with their traditional wedding announcements.
In a recent USA Today article, David Blackenhorn, founder of the Institute for American Values, commented on the newspaper's announcement, "What's problematic is this watering down of marriage's distinctiveness as a social institution."
I don't see it as a watering down, but rather, as an adaptation to the times.
Mat: What are we so afraid of -- gay people getting tax breaks? I'm sure it'd be horrible for a few gays to have a couple extra dollars in their pockets. Are we scared to tell our children that Mr. Smith and Mr. Robinson are husband and husband? I guess we want to fool ourselves and pretend that gay people aren't actually together and staying together.
Kevin: Gone are the days of homosexual couples hiding their relationships. Census figures from 2000 showed a dramatic increase in same-sex couples living in households. Finally, people are open about their relationships and are now looking to legally validate them by turning to the general public.
Final thought: "What we would like to see is legal recognition of us, and others like us as being family and having the same protections as rights as anyone else," Charlotte Egler, one of the six defendants in the lawsuit against O'Bannon.
Write to Kevin and Mat at twobsuguys@yahoo.com
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