And They Are Still Here: Seeing and Affirming the Humanity of Others

And They Are Still Here: Seeing and Affirming the Humanity of Others May 10, 2012

By Giovanni Neal, BKA BlameGirl
Rhetoric Race and Religion Contributor

If you ignore a problem it doesn’t go away. Why do conservatives, and much of Christianity continue to ignore gays? To become accepted, over history, people often have to group together into collectives and fight for their rights. To be acknowledged, Christians had to once do the same in Rome. Our government was created because people stood up and fought for their rights. Gays will keep making noise and fighting for their rights, until they are acknowledged.

Last week Dan Savage called upon Christians to ignore the rule on homosexuality, just like they ignore the rule on virginity or slavery. This week, President Barack Obama came forward supporting gay marriage, which is an “evolved” opinion from his support of civil unions. I suspect the president has always believed that gays should marry, only withheld his beliefs to seem more moderate. Many people are happy that he has come out in support of gay marriage, but this hardly means government is in support of same sex unions.

For a gay couple to feel true equality, they want to get married. How would you feel if you get married in one state and have to move because of a job, and in the new state you aren’t married? Your family is treated as an inferior one. We know how it feels when people look at us individually as an inferior person; imagine how it must feel when they look at you, your spouse and kids as anything less than there family. We know how it feels when someone looks at your religion as inferior, which is why religion was included in the First Amendment on the Bill of Rights. Why exclude any two consenting adults from starting a family? What additional damage does it do to the institution of marriage?

Gay marriage is just one of those things that will not go away, until the laws change. The laws may change as some of the older population dies, because they are resisting the laws, based largely on religion. Despite the fact that gays have been around since the beginning of time, people treat them as a new group that doesn’t deserve the same rights and privileges as everyone else. Just remember, even if you don’t acknowledge them, they are still there.

Laws Change; people die; the land remains. – Abraham Lincoln


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