. . . [I]t’s not easy to be gracious when your basic rights are denied through a combination of misdirection, exaggeration, and – too often – outright misrepresentations.
Or when people like Robert George or Maggie Gallagher [of NOM] say that, whatever happens legally, the union of a same-sex couple just can’t be a marriage. For them, evidence that marriage equality does not lead to the dire outcomes predicted does not – cannot – count.
But these tactics are their only play, and not only because they don’t have actual legal arguments that should persuade any court. Worse for them, the stories of the dedication, hardship, and love – in short, the human stories – of same-sex couples and our families keep piling up.
It’s clear to anyone with a pulse at this point that the continued denial of the dignity and equality that marriage confers has a direct and profound effect on everyone, not just on us. This glaring injustice diminishes those who oppose us, too. The cost of denying the humanity of other people in favor of grand abstractions — the ill-defined “sanctity” of marriage, the superiority of one race over another, the proper role for women — is high, and is often seen in the soul-seared apologies that follow, sometimes years too late.
. . . Opponents often express the worry that same-sex marriages will lead to the devaluation of marriage. (Funny that they don’t seem nearly as worried about it when marriage is shredded by opposite-sex couples, but never mind.) They should instead worry that denying the basic humanity and dignity of an often-despised minority diminishes all of us — the “queer” and the “normal,” alike.
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
A Message for NOM (and the Catholic Hierarchy)
Catholic Dad: My Gay Son and His Partner Are Created in the Likeness and Image of God
A Cradle Catholic's Case for Same-Sex Marriage
Steve Chapman: "Time is On the Side of Gay Marriage"
A Catholic Statement of Support for Same-Sex Marriage
Recommended Off-site Link:
Dialoguing with the Archbishop: Amendment Campaign Contrary to Church Moral Teaching -- Paula Ruddy (The Progressive Catholic Voice, March 3, 2011).
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