Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Gay Marriage

Now why would I be typing about this? I have an opinion, that's why. And believe it or not, it might not be in line with the title of this blog or with my other postings. I really don't see what all the commotion is about. But since as of yesterday, with Vermont becoming the fifth state in the Union to legalize same sex marriage, I thought, why not. After all I don't really care about the issue.

Here's why. If you know me very well, you know that I'm a secular person. So the argument that this is against a certain religion doesn't effect me. I realize that for most folks this is the main point. That's okay. No one should hold your religious beliefs against you. I certainly don't. So here is the my opinion on the whole mess and why I think that same sex couples ought to have some sort of options.

First of all there are gay folks in the world. I don't know if it's a wiring problem or a personal choice and frankly I don't care because they are here to stay no matter what. They are living together as we speak, or type. Nothing we can do about that. They purchase property together. Again, there's nothing to stop them.

Then there's the part that gets to most folks. They say that the feelings they have for each other are the same as I have for my wife. I don't claim to understand it either, but there it is. These folks just want to live together as a couple.

Then there's the issues of insurance coverage for same sex partners and the ability to chose who gets to make decisions for you if you become incapacitated. Now I think that it should be up to an individual company to decide if they want to cover same sex partners. A person would know that going into a job and that would be part of the decision making process for that person. But what can be more important is the decisions made for each other.

If I were unable to make a choice for myself concerning some health issue, then due to my being married, it would defer to my wife. I knew that when we married and I trust her judgement. That is possible only due to the marriage certificate. Now for a same sex couple, that choice is not available to them. In a country of free will such as ours, it should be. By virtue of my marriage I have chosen my wife to make that decision. If I wasn't married I should still be able to decide who has that power.

Although I don't support gay marriage, I think that some sort of civil union should be available to same sex couples. As much as some would argue, in reality a marriage certificate is really a business agreement. Don't believe me, just try getting divorced. If you have ever been in business with another person, then you also know what it's like with the business relationship ends. I think that if folks looked at it that way instead of as a "marriage" it might not seem so bad.

Here in Utah gay marriage isn't much of an issue since it was on the ballot during the last election and an amendment was added to the state constitution banning the possibility. That's the will of the people and I'm good with that.

But let folks decide for themselves on how to live their lives.

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