DOMA Denied, Part 1

In which our author addresses the Supreme Court striking down the Defense of Marriage Act as applied to being an American. 

The Supreme Court of the United States, in a split decision, has determined that the Defense of Marriage Act is not constitutional. This is...not really that surprising. Frankly, it's kind of like the Supreme Court deciding that it's not a great idea to tell really racist jokes or fart in elevators: the real news is that someone had to be told. I really don't understand how this got through in the first place to be honest.

We allowed a bunch of politicians to deny a group of people rights based on personal beliefs, and called it "Defense of Marriage". Personally, I didn't feel like my marriage was under attack, but maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention. I suppose I could have been surrounded at all times by gay ninjas, surreptitiously trying to convince me that I should leave my wife for a dude. There was that one time someone recommended a Ryan Reynolds movie at the video store. It was Green Lantern. I guess that's kind of suspicious.

Still, I don't feel like anything serious was addressed in this attempt to defend marriage. Why not criminalize adultery, or publicly fund marriage counseling? Perhaps put a waiting period on divorce. Hell, they try to put all sorts of fascinating restrictions on abortions all the time, but I'm pretty sure I could get a divorce over lunch and still have time to grab McDonald's. Of course I would never consider such a thing, because I love my wife dearly and...well, come on. McDonald's? Blech.

As far as the claim that gay marriage is somehow weakening "traditional marriages", I've got to admit that I'm not sure what is meant by this expression. I mean, how traditional are we talking here? Are we going with the idea that I give my wife her own house, and in return she's in charge of "spinning, sewing, weaving, manufacture of clothing, fetching of water, baking of bread, and animal husbandry"? Hopefully not, because I can't afford a second place and she not into husbanding animals (that I know of - now that I think about it, I've never really brought it up). Or should I just be satisfied with expecting to come home to be handed a cocktail to sip on while she finishes up preparing the pot roast for dinner? And either way, what does this have to do with gay people? Do they not know how to make a martini?

I guess my point is that taking away rights from gay people really didn't defend anything, and what with it being a pretty clear violation of their rights, the news that it wasn't upheld isn't a big shock for me. I know that there are arguments for the law, and for better or worse I will address some of those in the near future, but really, they don't apply here. So long as we want to loudly declare that America stands for freedom, and I'm pretty sure most of us are still in that camp, we kind of need to get past our personal prejudices and be okay with those freedoms and rights applying to all of us.

*sigh* Yes, even furries.