Same-Sex Couples Deserve Rights Too

In a free society, one would suppose that no civil right would be more fundamental than the choice of a life partner. But America’s movement in that direction has been tortuous.

Before the Civil War, it was illegal in the slave states for blacks to marry at all--even to each other. Into the 1960s, interracial marriages were prohibited in some states. Before women attained property rights in the 20th century, it was customary for marriages to be arranged by parents, brokers or matchmakers. And before the emergence of no-fault divorce in the past 30 years, it was very difficult to leave a dysfunctional relationship or to change marital partners.

We seem agreed now that the marital bond should be made or severed only by the decision of the two consenting adults involved, with one exception: homosexual couples. Men who love men and women who love women and who wish to publicly declare their commitment are denied legal sanction. We are cut off from the social support, legislative protections and financial incentives accorded to heterosexuals.

While Hawaii is in the process of rectifying this injustice, California and other states are scrambling to deny recognition to same-sex couples. The people driving this discrimination are the same ones who condemn nonmarital sex, promiscuity and single-parent families. There is no logic to making opposite gender the basis for marriage. Are we still pretending that procreation, not pleasure and intimacy, is the only acceptable basis for sexual activity? That criterion would nullify most heterosexual unions.

I believe that God makes no judgment on our choice of domestic partner and that all loving, caring, committed relationships are blessed by Spirit. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.

CLAIRE CONNELLY

Camarillo

Claire Connelly is president of the Gay & Lesbian Resource Center of Ventura County.