Our country has been in a tug of war for a while now over the issue of "gay marriage"--actually the LGBT community in general. This week, its been the forefront of all things media related; there are rational arguments on both sides as well as ignorant arguments on both sides. It's a sensitive topic; it can also be a hard topic to decide where you stand if you profess certain beliefs concerning the situation. That's why it's important to differentiate what is a belief and what is a right.
Beliefs
As a Christian, the argument is that the Bible speaks against homosexuality. Supporters of LGBT rights have attacked Christians who stand by this belief. There are many things to be pointed out about this however. For one, just as you have the right to be Atheist, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, etc., I have the right to be Christian. That being said, its a two way street: just as I have the right to be Christian, you have the right to be something else. I should not be forcing my beliefs down your throat, and you should not be forcing yours down mine. We have the right to agree to disagree. Which means Christians should not be harassing members of the LGBT community (that's not Christian-ly anyway, Jesus said "love your neighbor" not "love your neighbor as long as they're just like you"). On the flip side, members of the LGBT community have to realize that everyone is not going to agree with you--this is true for all topics, not just sexuality--and you only have the right to demand people respect your rights as person not that they accept and agree with your actions.
The truth is, so-called Christians have used the Bible to rationalize and justify discrimination since the beginning of time. It was used against women, Blacks, and now the LGBT community. As a Black woman, its only natural to feel some sympathy toward the LGBT community and to question the way people interpret the Bible. I looked up the passages in the Bible that refer to homosexuality. One is in Leviticus--the same book that says you shouldn't eat pork or shellfish. Leviticus also says that a woman who is menstruating is unclean and if you touch her or anything she touches you are also unclean. The laws mentioned in Leviticus typically refer to things being unclean or clean and are mentioned separately from the 10 commandments. I've always wondered about this. If you read Leviticus, most of the things listed are followed by how long you are considered unclean after touching or eating something considered unclean. The question for Christians is, if you break a law given in Leviticus is it the same as breaking one of the 10 commandments? If so, you would interpret the Bible to say that homosexuality is a sin. You would also have to interpret the Bible as saying that eating pork (yes, bacon) is also a sin. So if you are sitting at your breakfast table eating bacon and talking smack about the LGBT community, you would definitely be a hypocrite. If it is not the same as the 10 commandments, then it is just a manner of being unclean... I suppose that would make it a suggestion? I'm not really sure, its food for thought. Either way, I'd like to call your attention to the following Biblical passage:
"Judge not, that ye be not judged" Matthew 7:1 (KJV)
According to Matthew 7 you have no right to judge anyone. If you continue reading Matthew 7, you will see that the passage is reminding you that yes, I sin but so do you. So be it a sin or simply frowned upon, as Christians we do not have the right to judge. Just like your friends (and you yourself) have done wrong (lying, cheating, stealing, premarital sex, or any of the things listed in Leviticus with homosexuality), and you don't treat them any differently, so should you be toward the LGBT community. I'm not saying that you should encourage it--I don't encourage my friends to lie, or to sleep around, or do heroin, but I'm still there for them regardless of the decisions they make and whether I agree with them or not and I still love them exactly the same.
Rights
Legal marriage and spiritual marriage are not the same thing. Legal marriage is a joining by man and gives you legal rights, such as hospital visitation, the ability to file joint taxes, immunity in court from testifying against your spouse, etc--it has nothing to do with how God views it, I'm not even sure some of these heterosexual marriages have been sanctioned by God. After all, at this moment, two heterosexual Atheists can legally marry and God would clearly not be part of their wedding.
Rights, you see, are totally different than beliefs. It seems that many have forgotten, we don't live in a Christian nation. We live in a "free" nation which has a separation of church and state. This means that our laws are not based on religious beliefs. If a preacher says he won't marry a homosexual couple, that makes sense. Based on his belief, its wrong so why would he? But if a homosexual couple goes to the court, or has someone who does not believe it is wrong perform the wedding (I think anyone can apply for a license to wed people--you definitely don't have to be a minister), why shouldn't it be allowed? The government has no reason to say its wrong, because they aren't supposed to make the decision based on belief. I don't see a reason why they shouldn't give them a marriage license. There's a lot I don't understand about a lot of things, this being one of them (I mean, who gets to walk down the aisle? Do you toss 2 bouquets? If there is no bride, there isn't a garter to toss, so what do two grooms toss?), but honestly, it doesn't effect me. If two men decide to get married, they design their wedding however they deem fit, and the government recognizes them as husband and husband, I don't see what that has to do with me. So, why should it bother me from a legal standpoint? It doesn't.
My Honest, Ugly, Bottom Line Truth
No, I don't want to walk into a restaurant and see two men or two women making out. You know what, I don't want to see a man and a woman making out in a restaurant either. If I'm in a restaurant I just want to see food. I want to have conversations about march madness and what to eat for lunch, not who you choose to sleep with. I don't want to talk to my heterosexual friends about who they sleep with either.
I'd rather live in a society, where the LGBT community feels free to express themselves, than a society where they hide. I don't want to have to ask "Is my boyfriend/husband secretly gay?" I don't want to have to ask "Was he actually born a woman and lying to me?" I want to get to know people exactly for who they are are, not who they think I want them to be. I want you to be you, whoever that may be and I want you to be happy and content being you.
