Settling the Issue: Same-Sex Marriage IS NOT a Civil Right

On top of her opinions being broadcast into numerous homes around the world, Comedian and Talk Show Host Ellen DeGeneres has personally bought $100,000 of television airtime to urge Californians to vote no on Proposition 8 (Yahoo News).  The ad begins with these words from Ellen:

Hi, I’m Ellen DeGeneres. I got to do something this year I never thought I’d ever be able to do: I got married. It was the happiest day of my life. There are people out there raising millions of dollars to try and take that right away from me (bold mine).

Ellen continues her appeal to the Californian constituents, saying, “You’ve seen their ads on TV. They’re twisting the truth, and they’re trying to scare you. I believe in fairness.  I believe in compassion. I believe in equality for all people.  Proposition 8 does not.  Please, please, vote no on Prop. 8” (bold mine). 

Within this short video segment we unearth a common theme of equality and same-sex marriage as a Civil Right that is interwoven throughout many same-sex marriage campaigns.  Ellen speaks of marriage synonymously with her personal right to marry whom she wills.  She would have people believe that there are some out there who are attempting to take that right away from her by raising millions of dollars and twisting the truth, with the hopes of scaring everyone with their mean-spirited, bigoted, and deceitful message.   

Not only is this the case, but Ellen went on to strike a sympathetic cord among her viewers by expressing her belief in fairness and equality for all people which must denote that those who disagree with her and are promoting Proposition 8 don’t.     

Many that have commented on this blog, as well as others that I have dialogued with elsewhere, agree with Ellen that practicing homosexuals are an oppressed minority who are being denied the right to marry whom they will.  

But is this the case?  Are practicing homosexuals being denied the basic Civil Rights that heterosexuals enjoy?  Is their cause righteous and to be considered synonymous with the Civil Rights movement of the past?

We will consider these questions and others.  So please, click “Read the rest of this entry” and join in on the conversation.   

From Tolerance to Intolerance: How the Normalization of Homosexuality and Same-Sex Marriage Will Lead to the Suppression of Freedom

Recently popular talk show host and comedian Ellen Degeneres commented upon the position of Sarah Palin’s support of amending the Federal Constitution to define marriage between one man and one woman.  In response to Palin’s comments on Christian Broadcasting Network, Ellen said:

So if you’re wondering…how I fell about this…I don’t like it.  I don’t agree.  Maybe it’s because I’m gay that I think we should all be equal.  But I feel that we’re all equal…I don’t know what people are scared of.  Maybe they think that their children will be influenced…People are gonna be who they’re gonna be…And we need to learn to love them for who they are, and let them love who they want to love (US Magazine.Com)

I do not disagree with Ellen in that all of us have been created in the image of God and there are certain unalienable rights that we possess as human beings.   I also agree with Ellen in that we have the freedom of choice and the freedom to choose whom we give our love and affection to.  However, once our actions move beyond the realm of our own lives to the realm of impacting others health, safety, and/or convenience, then our ability to ”freely choose” should be diminished (seeWe Too Are Prochoice). 

From Homosexuality is Not a Civil Right, Daniel Garcia and Robert Regier observed:

When protecting one’s inalienable and civil rights, the government must discern between liberty and license.  This requires that rights attach to persons because of their humanity, not because of their behaviors, and certainly not those behaviors that Western legal and moral tradition has regarded as inimical to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” as stated in the Declaration (bold mine).

A person’s civil rights are not dictated by their behavior, but rather by their humanity, something that is immutable and unchangeable.  However, celebrities such as Ellen are striving to have homosexuality and same-sex marriage receive special legal protection from the government to the detriment and suppression of freedom among individuals, parents, families, church, and community organizations.   

Massachusetts and Connecticut have already succumb to this political battle, while California hangs in the balance.  California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell, recently commented upon the affects of same-sex marriage on the states public education curricula:

I’ve seen the spots on the TV, and (legalized gay marriage) just isn’ going to require any kind of teaching of personal relationships or lifestyles…That’s just not an accurate statement or portrayal (AP, Public Schools Become Focus of Gay Marriage Ban).

Not only has Mr. O’Connell level such an affirmation, but Laura Schulkind who serves as the representative lawyer for school districts across California said:

The education code already has a high expectation that school districts are going to create an environment where respect for human dignity and acceptance of differences, including sexual orientation, are promoted…I don’t see how the legalization of gay marriage or the passage of Prop. 8 changes that obligation (ibid.)

Is this the case?  Will the endorsement of same-sex marriage have no bearing upon the curricula of state schools?  What will ensure that school districts of CA, or any state for that matter, will not require their schools to normalize homosexuality or same-sex marriage?  

What we will briefly observe is that the special legal protection of homosexuality and the allowance of same-sex marriage will inevitably lead to it’s normalization in state schools; therefore, directly affecting state school curricula.  Moreover, this normalization of homosexuality and same-sex marriage will lead to the suppression of freedom of individuals, private religious and civic organizations.