Trepidations and Opportunities

Weighing the pros and cons of SCOTUS’ same-sex marriage ruling.

Christian Ledek | Staff Writer

 

Same-sex marriage became legal nationwide on June 26, 2015.  The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right just the same as a man and a woman getting married.  I think this is a good thing for our country overall because the more we as a people are treated equally, the better off we’ll be.

Though, I understand the trepidation that people who are not in favor of same-sex marriage will have, whether for political or religious reasons.  Utah voted against legalizing it at a state level, and so did a fair amount of other states.  I think the argument is a bit extreme, but it could potentially set a precedent of saying that the people aren’t being allowed to govern themselves. I very much understand the religious view as well.  I, like many other Utahns, am a member of the LDS church and one stance the church takes against same-sex marriage is that it will destroy the traditional family.

Around two to three percent of the U.S. population identify as gay.  How could such a small portion of the population “attack” the traditional family?  I really don’t believe the legalization of same-sex marriage will have any effect on a traditional family’s love and happiness, and if it does, maybe those families weren’t really loving and happy to begin with.   

The LDS church also teaches that marriage should only be between a man and a woman and that participating in homosexual activity is a sin.  So how can I, or any LDS or other religious person be in favor of same-sex marriage?  Because people should be allowed to choose how they live their own lives. It’s not a sin to support treating every person equally.   Also, to me it boils down to a very simple point:  if I were gay, and I loved another person who was gay, I would want the right to marry that person.

To be honest, I think this is a great opportunity for our nation.  We have people who are in favor of same-sex marriage, and we have people who aren’t in favor of same-sex marriage.  This is our chance as a nation to prove that even though we may disagree with one another, we can still be unified and strong.

For those of us in favor of same-sex marriage, we can try and understand where people who aren’t in favor of it are coming from by hearing them out and trying to see from their perspective.  For those of you against same-sex marriage, you can try to take a walk in someone else’s shoes.  Try to understand that maybe having everyone treated equally could be the right way to go, even if you don’t agree with it.

We’ve proven at times that we have the maturity to deal with diversity in our great nation.  Let’s not let this situation take a turn for the worse.  No matter what you believe, support each other as human beings and see the good in everything.  The ball is in our court, America.