The Speed of Silence

Hello, internet. I’m really really tired, so I’ll cut right to the chase.

I have a lot to say about gay marriage. I’ve written three papers on it, and I am also very affected by it as well. Let’s see...

First of all, I would like to lay out a situation that, luckily, I don’t believe has ever happened to anyone I know, although a few of my family members live in continuous fear of its occurance:

Let’s pick two dudes who like each other very much. How about Ted and Fred. Ted has a very nice, supporting family, who has embraced him and his 30 year relationship with Fred. Fred’s family, however, disowned him when he came out, and refuses to speak to him.

Ted and Fred are driving home one night from dinner. Wham! They get into a rather serious accident. Ted is pretty bloodied up, and Fred is out cold. The ambulances take them to the hospital, where it is discovered that Ted only had a couple of nasty cuts and a few broken ribs, but Fred has a broken arm, a fracture in his collarbone, and internal bleeding. He needs surgery right away. Of course, Ted says to the doctors “Give him the surgery!” The doctors respond that only immediate family can make decisions about major surgeries. So Ted calls Fred’s family. “Well, its just another homo we don’t have to worry about,” is the response he gets. So Ted, who has lived with Fred for over twice the length of the average marriage in America, has to sit and watch his life partner die.

A month passes, and as Ted is sadly cleaning up his house, he gets a phone call. Its Fred’s family’s lawyer. It turns out that, since Fred was responsible for their money, Fred’s family had inherited everything. The house, the car, the furniture, and, worst of all, custody of their 5 year old adopted daughter. Of course, Fred’s family hates Ted, so he will never see his property and daughter again.

Now I know that you’re saying to yourself, “This could never happen.” But it does, repeatedly, happen. Furthermore, it is a fear that lives in almost every same-sex couple’s hearts.

It seems kind of silly to me to be having a grammatical quibble over whether or not the word marriage applies to just hetero couples or to gay couples as well.

The facts, it turns out, actually support gay marriage. Gay couples who are at the point in their relationship that they would, given the chance, marry, are significantly more likely to stay together in a relationship than a straight couple. Furthermore, children raised by same-sex couples have nearly identical “success” rates to children raised in “traditional” marriages (in fact, the former are slightly less likely to engage in crime, drugs, etc).

So, before I get over 500 words, I would just like to say that I support civil marriage between same-sex couples.

Good night, and good luck.