Everyone deserves happily ever after
Matt and I met at the University of Iowa in the fall of 1994. Our story is a traditional one: boy meets girl, they fall in love, have some early-twenties drama, grow-up, get married and live happily ever after. Or so we hope, right?
We support marriage equality because we are acutely aware we are no more entitled to the happily-ever-after than anyone else. Furthermore, we are no more entitled to the rights, protections and recognition we receive as a result of our love. We both work in the financial services industry, and there are many examples in our line of work illustrating the benefits we receive as a married couple – benefits our same-sex counterparts do not.
Reconciling this belief with other parts of our identity and faith is not difficult. We hear a lot from our Christian brethren that homosexuality is an abonomation. Our response is simple: We didn't choose to be straight; therefore, we can't believe that anyone else chooses to be gay. Taking the idea further, as Christians we are all children of God, created in His image. How can we hate somone who was created in His image?
A friend of mine who is a biblical scholar recently told me the Bible talks about many sins, but no sin is mentioned more than the sin of the tongue, meaning hateful words. If we're going to start counting sins, we should start with not speaking hateful words. Additionally, the quest for gay marriage is not a religious one. Our country has a separation between church and state for a reason. We are asking for the same legal rights of marriage, not the same covenant of a biblical marriage. We are not asking churches, ministers or priests to perform gay marriages.
As an interracial couple, Matt's and my marriage would not have been recognized in some states 50 years ago. A Supreme Court decision, Loving v. Virginia, in 1967 made our marriage legal in every state. If our marriage was once contested in some states, but we now reap the benefits of the law finally recognizing equality, why wouldn't we support the same rights for others?
