But every now and again something makes me feel sick to my stomach and i am struck with an overwhelming lack of faith. And this time I'm not talking about prats with their prams, I'm talking about the bigots who are lurking in our houses of parliament. I'm talking about opposition to the Gay Marriage Bill.
Shall i tell you what i thought, innocently and naively, when i first heard that finally this bill might get passed? What's that? yeah, well i'm telling you anyway so LISTEN UP.
1. About time too!!! Obviously same sex couples should be allowed to get married. They are human (which may come as news to some of the tory back benchers) and two, consenting, adult humans should be allowed to get married. I'm so terribly glad that finally people are recognising that your sexual orientation shouldn't affect what you are allowed to do in life. I mean, i thought that that was obvious.
and that is it. because it really is as simple as "errr yep." To be honest, there shouldn't really need to be a debate about it because, well, it's the right thing to do.
But then in came all the inevitable rubbish. The homophobes, who had until now been able to just sit in parliament avoiding the subject, stood up and started spouting reels and reels of utter (for want of a better word) shit....
Ah yes, the "sanctity of marriage". that one again? Oh i was hoping for a bit of originality. What's next? "adam and eve, not adam and steve"? "Marriage belongs to the church- if the church doesn't want them to have it, then they can't have it."? *clears throat aggressively* Soz, but atheists can get "married", agnostics can get "married", non-christians can get "married" as long as they are heterosexual. BUT two gay christian men can't? If marriage is defined by the church then why can i get married without even having to set foot in a church, or any religious building for that matter?
And then a nice sprinkling of the appeal for "tradition" . To quote Lord Dear (or as i fondly refer to him: "Lord Dear God, why are you even allowed to discuss this?") the bill "sought to overturn centuries of tradition." duh. sort of the point. It is seeking to overturn centuries of tradition. Centuries of tradition that have ensured the maltreatment and oppression of people purely based on who they have fallen in love with. Centuries of traditions that have meant that people were treated as being abnormal, sinful, sub-human because of their sexual orientation. Centuries of tradition that have driven great minds and great people to the edge and then shoved them off it. Centuries of tradition that are outdated and need to be renewed and reexamined. If we had kept all of our century old traditions we would still be living in a world with no democracy, no technology and certainly no equality. So i, for one, am gladly moving on from those famous (or infamous) traditions.
And from traditions we come to the idiots who don't even deserve a morsel of recognition. The "slippery slope" enthusiasts*. I shall say no more because we can all smell bullshit where they are concerned.
(*eg: "people are going to be able to marry their pet fish" "people will marry their cars" "everyone will magically become gay"... for further examples just have a little read of Lord Carey's views.)
And aside from those there have been a the few little smart-arses butting in with "but they are equal. A gay man can get married- he can marry a woman." *sobs* I don't want to live on this planet any more... The question is not whether someone can get married, it's whether they can get married to the person of their choice, the person they love, the person that they are attracted to. Marriage shouldn't just be a person marrying someone of the opposite sex, it should be a person marrying the person that they love. Jeez.
There really is no debate. The church shouldn't be complaining because the Bible preaches love and that is all this is: love. Love between same-sex couples, love between all couples. Love is for everyone no matter their sexual orientation, love is for humanity. And if a church doesn't want to marry same sex couples then fair enough, they don't have to opt in. This is about choice. No one is going to force same sex marriage upon you, no one is going to force you to get married to someone of your sex, no one is going to force you to treat your fellow human beings with respect and courtesy- because i would hope that that doesn't have to be forced; it should be instinctive.
Marriage is not just a word, it can be symbol of a world that is progressing. Why are we turning something that should be about love into a mechanism for hate? I would like my faith in humanity to be restored. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF- Love. In all it's forms.
tip: Well i hate to state the obvious but, errrr, pass the bill, lords and ladies- danke.
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