Is There Room for Gays in the "Land of the Free"?

“Who would give a law to lovers? Love is unto itself a higher law.” ~Boethius; The Consolation of Philosophy, A.D. 524

For those of us in the United States of America,

Here we find ourselves in the Land of the Free, the Home of the Brave, and yet so many people are terrified of a simple and succinct realization: there are a percentage of people who feel an unmistakable attraction to people of the same gender as themselves. In a society supposedly based on courage, compassion for diversity, and the acceptance of all ethnicities, colors, races, and creeds, so many people are afraid of the love between two people simply because it breaks the barrier of societal norms.

Many argue that our nation was built on religion, morality, and strength in faith. With 280 followers in the U.S., Christianity is the largest religion in the nation. Bibles in hand, people often misquote the passages, claiming that God Himself condemns this minority of love and therefore we should base our laws on this belief. However, many of the same “believers” eat pork and shellfish, are working women, and do not have a vendetta against divorce or punish adultery with stoning. Not only are these blind followers intolerant, they are also hypocritical, and yet they have the leading majority against same-sex unions.

In the army, men are able to face the horrifying tragedy of the human condition. They kill, they fight, to protect the broken freedom our nation promotes, and somehow the sight or thought of two men holding hands ignites a moral fire preventing homosexuals from performing the same courageous deeds. Upon returning home, soldiers and their families receive government aid both financially and psychologically. Homosexual couples with a member from the army cannot enjoy these benefits and are left to suffer in silence, solely decided on the basis of gender.

Is this Freedom and Liberty for All?

Those who claim there is no place in American society for homosexuality because it would demoralize and extinguish heterosexual society are simply afraid of change, in the same way whites and blacks at one point were segregated, and women were kept from voting in fear they could gain positions of power. Televangelists cry their crocodile tears, asking us “Where is God?” There are videos shown in parochial schools with the image of two men on a wedding cake, captioned “The Wrongs of Today”. People are so afraid that equality for homosexuals would take God out of the equation, and religion will completely disappear from society.

Instead, why can’t we have the beliefs and rights of all honest citizens met fairly, justly, and with the courage and tolerance of the forefathers of this free nation? Why can’t a Southern Baptist and transsexual have the same rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as was prescribed by Thomas Jefferson in The Declaration of Independence? What makes Adam and Eve better than Adam and Steve?

If blacks, whites, Mexicans, Swedes, Catholics, Jews, and Muslims all have equal rights, why is there no room for the gays, the lesbians, the bisexuals, transsexuals, or those who just happened to fall in love not by body but by mind?

These are the questions we must pose to each other, and continue the active fight for equality.