In light of the attention given to the recent resignation of Mozilla's CEO, Brendan Eich, over the discovery that he had donated money to the fight against same-sex marriage, there has been movement in the news to make the case that those who oppose same-sex marriage are not "bigots" or bad people. The argument is that it is a sincerely held belief that same-sex marriage is harmful to children and to society and thus, good folks exist on both sides of the argument.
Really? Let's take a deeper look at this.
For starters, the initial opposition to same-sex marriage was based on how same-sex marriage would "devalue" or harm heterosexual marriages. After it was concluded that that was a baseless fear, the next argument was that it was against biblical teachings. And of course, opponents of same-sex marriage learned quickly that the U.S. is not a theocracy (to their chagrin). Now the mantra is, "It's for the children." Even the latest court hearing in Michigan centered not on the question of inequality and discrimination against gays and lesbians but on whether or not evidence exists showing that children reared by same-sex couples fare worse than children reared by heterosexual couples. Opponents of same-sex marriage were so pleased that they had finally shifted the focus of the debate to the welfare of children (and not to their prejudice and desire to retain status and privilege at the expense of gays and lesbians).
But are opponents of same-sex marriage really concerned about children's welfare? If so, why do they not oppose the following?
- Convicted murderers are permitted to both get married and have children.
But now, when confronted with allowing this small class of people (gays and lesbians) to marry the person they love, opponents are oh-so-concerned about the well-being of children.
Quite laughable. How disingenuous. So evil.
It's one thing to privately oppose same-sex marriage for whatever reason. However, it you donate money (or time) to try to withhold civil rights from sexual minorities, you are not simply holding a private view to which you are entitled but are declaring war against a group of humans you do not like.
We do not try to cajole or gently persuade those who espouse racial prejudice against being prejudiced. We call them what they are: racial bigots. Why the need to pretend that individuals who oppose equal rights for sexual minorities are not bigots? They deserve public excoriation.