One of my favorite quotes on gay marriage came from Dolly Parton. I was watching her being interviewed on a TV show and the interviewer asked her what she thought about gay marriage. She sat back in her chair and a few seconds later responded, “Hell, I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to be miserable just like the rest of us!”
Earlier this week I blogged about the love, commitment, special, and sappy aspects of marriage, but today I want to talk about the “other” side of marriage because I think we can make good valid arguments on both sides of the coin. When I was testifying up at the capital I would ask, “Why are you fighting so hard to protect the institution of marriage?”
A while back Men’s Health Magazine ran a story entitled, “The worst cities in America for a guy to get hitched.” They looked at divorce rates, how many certified marriage counselors existed per capita, the percentage of men who had ever been divorced, and the stringency of divorce laws. Guess which city came in as number one? Number one being the worst, you guessed it Cheyenne! The article went on to say apparently there are more than buffalo roaming in Cheyenne.
Speaking of divorces, celebrities seem to have done a fantastic job of making a joke out of the institution of marriage. Britney Spears had a 55 hour marriage to her childhood friend Jason Alexander. Renee Zellweger married Kenny Chesney for four months then filed for divorce citing “fraud” as the reason. Zsa Zsa Gabor has been married nine times, Mickey Rooney has been married eight times, Larry King has been married eight times.. I could go on and on.
The world lost a treasure today in Elizabeth Taylor. I’ve always thought she was one of the most beautiful women in the world, inside and out. She was an activist in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In 2006 she attended a celebration in her wheelchair over the legalization of gay marriage in California. She herself had been married eight times.
Possible presidential candidate and bigot Donald Trump has said he doesn’t support gay marriage, and went on to say he also doesn’t think same sex couples should be allowed civil benefits afforded straight couples. Trump, currently involved in marriage number three obviously enjoys his marriage rights, but wants to deny these benefits to the LGTB community.
Bottom line, I should be allowed to enter into a marriage for any or all of the same reasons straight people can enter into a marriage. Would gay couples make the same mess of the marriage institution that straight people have? Who knows, and frankly who cares! In November of 2010 Pew Research Center and Time Magazine conducted a survey and found 40% of young Americans think marriage is obsolete anyway. To all of my WyWatch, Focus on the Family, Wyoming Family Coalition, and Alliance Defense Fund friends who say we need to keep this holy, sacred, and honored tradition between a man and a woman, I say give me a friggin break!!
Jeran
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