Equality Defined

Equality (Noun): “the quality or state of being equal.”

Equal (Adjective): “regarding or affecting all objects in the same way.”

I’m pretty certain Mr. Merriam and Mr. Webster won’t mind me mentally substituting “objects” for “people” for the sake of argument. But now that the risky business of defining equality is out of the way, it is easier to understand the broad strokes of a very common argument in the gay community: Our constant struggle to gain equality.

That’s right: Equality. It takes all kinds coming from all stripes to fight for something, and it took me awhile to realize that’s probably why our movement is symbolized by the rainbow flag. There have been arguments in the mainstream media that same-sex marriage is a “slippery slope.” There have been arguments that gays and lesbians are seeking “special rights” by demanding marriage equality. “Equality” and “special rights” are not synonymous as some right-wing “family advocacy groups” like Focus On the Family would have you believe.

If Alfred Kinsey is to be believed, 10% of the population is LGBTQ. This is a large minority of people. Family advocacy groups and the Mormon Church recently played a critical role in the passage of California’s Proposition 8, a ballot initiative that restricted the definition of marriage in the eyes of state courts to unions between one man and one woman only. There are more gays and lesbians in this country than there are Mormons, and yet voters were persuaded in no small part to ban same-sex marriage in California because of record donations from the Church of Latter-Day Saints.

In so defeating Proposition 8, California voters restricted thousands of couples and potential couples 1,138 federal rights, protections and benefits that marriage gives to heterosexual partners. These couples are not regarded in the same way as their heterosexual counterparts. I understand (and will discuss later) the argument that changing the definition of marriage to include unions between two consenting adult males or two consenting adult females makes some people uncomfortable. With the rate of divorce running so high for heterosexual couples, you’d think family advocacy groups would really be worried about shoring up their marriages instead of denying mine.

And by the way, the definition of marriage has already been changed. In 2009, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary was amended to include the following note on the word “Marriage:”

“… the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage.”

With this inclusion in one of the foremost authorities on definitions, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is more progressive than the State of California. Isn’t that a little insulting to any Californians who value equality above comfort?

Getting back to these aforementioned “special rights,” is it logical that the government may take away a sex offender’s right to vote in elections after he is convicted but takes no action to prevent him from marrying a mother of three? Gays and lesbians can’t marry at all, and yet heterosexual sex criminals can marry at will. Somehow, it just doesn’t seem equal.

Also, family advocacy groups claim to be preserving the family unit, the cultural ideal, the unit that will produce children. Gays have been hammering it for years, and I shall continue because the point is strong and valid: Infertile couples can’t produce children; yet infertile couples can marry. It just doesn’t seem equal.

Why, in the greatest country on earth, are we debating granting “special rights” to a minority of people whose greatest crime is the desire to be treated fairly and like everyone else in our society? The “gay agenda” so often pandered as this wicked thing is the heterosexual agenda: To live a life free and honest and open, free from the regulations and impositions of others. Equality, true equality, is our greatest goal, and people of all stripes are campaigning to be treated just like everybody else in this country. That is our demand. “Special rights” to those who would oppress, “reality” for the heterosexual population at large.


Be good,

Will