What better way to start the webs most dedicated blog to Gay Weddings than with a post about what Gay Weddings are, why gay weddings are important to gay people and why gay weddings are so controversial. I think the best way to start this post about gay weddings is to address why gay weddings are important to gay people.
Gay weddings aren’t about the word wedding or the word marriage. Sure to the hardcore gay activist they will not settle on terms like Union or Partnership because they feel like they are a second class citizen but the reality of the issue being about a word in my opinion is next to meaningless. The issues surrounding gay weddings are about having equal rights like straight couples do when they get married. The equal rights are what are most important to most gay people and if people could get over the term marriage and union and take the equal rights, I think that eventually down the road terms like marriage vs. civil union will not longer matter as much as gay weddings will be so normal for all of society at that point that saying your going to a gay wedding or watching your friends get married won’t even cause a flinch in someone’s eye.
The equal rights is the biggest issue because when you are officially married and the government recognizes that you are married, you now get things that couples, friends and other non family members get. This includes things like tax breaks, social security, the rights to the things you have earned as a couple if one of you would pass on but most importantly rights like hospital visitation rights.
One of the scariest things that can happen to a couple is finding out that the person you love has ended up in the hospital. When you are married legally you are considered family and you can visit with the person that you love. If you are not married or your partnership is not recognized by the government or the state then you are technically not allowed to go back to see the person you love. Hospitals for the most part only let family members and legally married spouses back to see their partners when they are in the hospital. Can you imagine how horrible it must be to have to sit in a waiting room while the person you love may be dying or in pain. To not be able to say goodbye to them or to be by their side when they need you. Can you imaging being on your deathbed and not being able to be with the one you love. This is a reality for many gay couples because in their states they cannot get married legally so if something happens to their partner they are not only not allowed to be with them in the hospital, but they also have to spend their time waiting for family to show up and tell them how the person they love is doing. That is one of the main issues regarding gay marriage and gay weddings and why it is important to gay people that gay people are able to get married. It is about equal rights and not about god or about causing trouble. Imagine if you were the person in the hospital or if you got a call that your partner and the person you love was in the hospital, it may make you have a different opinion on the matter if you have had to go through it.
Now that you have heard one of the reasons that gay marriage and having a gay wedding is important to gay people, lets talk about why some people oppose gay marriage and protest outside gay weddings.
The main reason and main issue have with gay people getting married is the fact that they feel God hates gays or that the bible says that marriage is between a man and a woman. The thing is that that makes almost no sense at all. If God hated gays then why would he have created gay people? If God creates everyone in his own image, then gay people are also God’s image and should be respected just as much as anyone else. The bible was written well after Jesus passed away and nothing can actually really be proven. Although I do respect religion and people who have faith, the truth of the matter is that here in the USA there is a separation of Church and State. The separation of Church and State is one of the core founding principles of America. Using God as an excuse to prevent or not allow gay marriage or throwing the bible into the mix is quite frankly unconstitutional. Not only does it go against one of the founding principles that America was founded on but it also goes against the rights to freedom of religion.
If Christianity says gay marriage is wrong but a different religion says gay marriage is right, then who is to say which religion should control what the law says. It makes no sense and when people bring up god into the argument they forget that America was founded on the freedom to believe and practice whatever religion they want to. The God and religion argument is unamerican and if someone brings it up they should be taken out of the argument. This is a US social issue and not one for religion since religion is not part of the legal process in the USA.
Now that you have heard why gay weddings are important and what the main opposition is to gay weddings and gay marriage, lets go over what exactly a gay wedding is.
Gay weddings are celebrations of love and the union of two people. Just like a straight wedding you have a happy couple who is in love. You have a wedding party, you have a cake, you have a caterer and you have the person who will legally marry you. The only real difference between a gay wedding and a straight wedding is that instead of a bride and groom you have two brides or two grooms. You still have two people in love, you still have friends and family around and you still have a celebration. The only real difference is that you have two brides or two grooms and the cake topper may have two brides or two grooms as well, unless they go with doves or letters or something else.
I hope this post helps to better explain what gay weddings are and why they are important to gay people. Please feel free to leave a comment below and I will be happy to respond to as many of them as I can.
Continue reading Gay Weddings – Why Are Gay Weddings Important
