The Essence of Being Seen as a Normal Person

Maggie Spurr
The Paw Print

It was early December. I remember the night as though it was last night. I vividly remember slow dancing in the light from the streetlights, the sound of her voice, and the way her hand felt in mine.
I said, “Baby, what do you want for your birthday?” The silence only made the late December night colder than it already was. I searched for a return in eye contact, and with tears filling the beautiful honey colored eyes I had fallen for months prior, she replied, “A wedding…”  It was in that moment that I experienced the greatest rush of hatred and sadness that I had ever felt. What kind of world do we live in?
I do want to marry her, but as it turns out, the band that I wear on my left hand is irrelevant to society.As of right now, Ashley and I are a lesbian couple, who wear rings to symbolize our commitment to one another. However, in the eyes of society that is all we are, two females playing pretend. We do not have a marriage to show people.  No, all we have, our only option, is to get an “uncivil” union. Our wedding plans can only ever be that of a small courthouse in a town in which we have both made contributions throughout our lives.
The Catholic Church we have both showed devotion to since birth will never allow us to walk down its beautiful aisle, our family and friends seated in its wooden pews.
Today, gay marriage is a highly controversial topic in the courts, in the press, and in legislative chambers. However, research that has been conducted on marriage and its benefits on men and women speaks for itself in regards to whether homosexual couples should have a chance to experience the sacred union. It has been proven that adults who marry live longer lives, and happier ones at that. The psychological good that marriage has on a human clearly emphasizes how important marriage truly is.
According to Glenn T. Stanton and Dr. Bill Maier in the book Marriage on Trial, “Marriage is the one social institution that successfully bridges the divide of humanity and bridges the genders together in a respectful, loving and cooperative relationship.”The proposition that homosexuals fight for nearly every day in the United States is to have the ability to express their love and support for their partner.
In Jonathan Rauch’s book Gay Marriage, he makes several statements to better emphasize the concept. “When homosexuals ask to marry, they are not just asking for a legal stamp of approval on the life they have. They are asking for the prospect of a different and (in more cases than not) better kind of life: a life blessed with the physical and moral goods that marriage brings. They are asking, really, for a better kind of love.”
Beyond the basic human function of love, we cannot disregard the religious point of view, considering that at a national level Christianity is the leading religion. Gay individuals have frequently heard that it goes against God’s will to love someone of the same sex.
As far as religion and the church go, marriage is and always has carried a sacred belief that the institution of marriage belongs to a man and a woman. However, in 1990 Bishop John Shelby Spong expressed his controversial opinion in terms of homosexual people. “It is time to overcome that dark chapter of church history by living new chapters with an attitude that embraces yesterday’s exile, practices the inclusiveness of God’s love, and celebrates the unique gifts of all of God’s diverse children. The one act that above all others will best show a serious intention to change the church’s attitude will be for the church to state its willingness and eager desire to bless and affirm the love that binds two persons of the same gender into a life-giving relationship of mutual commitment.
That ritual act alone will announce to the world and to ourselves a shift that will be believed.”  It is time for the country to look at each individual as a human, with the ability to love however they want and still find acceptance in society.
The request to marry would only finalize the essence of being seen as a person, nothing more and nothing less. Gay marriage is a right that should be recognized at a national level. It is essentially a basic human right. This journey may be long and hard, but we must see it till its end.