The Right to Gay Marriage: a Call for Civilized Action

Gay marriage and gay domestic partnerships have come of age and should be acknowledged by the people of Colorado through legal initiatives. In November 2006, Colorado voters had the opportunity to vote on whether or not the state should recognize the domestic partnerships of gay and lesbian couples. Some of the major objections raised by opponents of this idea included the thought that homosexuality is morally wrong, that marriage is reserved for a man and a woman (an idea accepted by the majority of Colorado voters and legalized in that same election), that allowing gay domestic partnerships and marriages to be recognized by the state would violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment, and that heterosexual marriages serve a purpose in meeting the social norm of stability and offer the ideal environment in which to raise children to become future responsible adults. Those who supported state recognition asserted that the present system is unfair and actively discriminates against a sizable population who pay taxes, who own real property, who may already have children of their own, and who are responsible citizens of this state. In order for Colorado to assert that it is democratic and that it practices the value of justice, the state needed to resolve to enact laws that would have extended basic marriage rights to the gays and lesbians who live in that state as a way of ensuring equal protection under the law.
The first objection to recognizing gay domestic partnerships was the idea that homosexuality is wrong and is an aberration that goes against the social norms of this country. As the United States is a country founded on Judeo-Christian values and these values tell us that homosexuality is wrong, then the very moral foundation of this country must assert that homosexuality is wrong and immoral. If homosexuality is immoral, how can we, as a society, offer legal and economic (through tax breaks and
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through applying the same financial...