I have many gay friends and acquaintance's who are looking this legalisation of their proposed marriage to be accepted, I have, on the other hand, members of the Church as close family members who are passionate traditionalists and thus oppose the idea. My gay friends say they want the same rights that everyone else has, they want equality and the right to declare their love for each other as a happy, faithful couple who are committed to each other for life. Church members, predominantly Christian in my family who disagree with this, believe that marriage is sacred and should not be tainted with. They claim the Bible is very clear on its opinion of homosexuals and believe it is an abomination as well as unnatural, along with theories that the legal acceptance of gay marriage will open the floodgates for other acts of sin, such as polygamy, to being accepted within our society. Both parties will stand their grounds in vain over this issue, which will probably end up becoming one of those great moments in history, if the gays do get their wish.
Personally, I have to be a rationalist, modern human and agree with the act of love between two consenting adults. I see how the gay couples in my life are just as normal and caring as any of my straight friend couples, and feel it is their basic human right to be married as they please. Now, I can't understand why non-religous persons (including gays) would want to get married in a Church, I find it a tad hypocritical and shallow to do so, however, if the act of gay marriage was to be made legal, then the Church should still have their right to refuse to marry whomever they wish on their premises based on their traditional beliefs. I think ideas such as that are the only way to come to a semi peaceful agreement amongst both parties, if their will ever be one. I'm sure fifty years ago, people wouldn't of been saying that we would have groups of qualified gay priests in the Chapels but times do change, sure the Old Testament reads that you can sell your own daughter into slavery if her father wish. Bible fundamentalists who go against issues such as gay marriage and women's rights should re-read their own Good Book to see just how different it was in those days. God promotes love, equality and peace. I know from what I've ever been taught about the Bible that God teaches us not to judge anyone and always to love. It saddens me that so many people forget that. If being gay is a modern day sin then why isn't there a ban on getting divorced if marriage is so sacred and important, or why don't adulterers ever get the same level of intolerance as homosexuals? Divorce is at its highest rate in history and will only rise, I honestly don't know why some people bother to get married, however, I would never stand in the way of someone else being allowed to do something just because I don't agree with.
The problem I find with homophobia, is that it can stem out into other areas of our lives and create even more bigotry and cruelty. For example, in Northern Ireland it is illegal for a sexually active gay man to donate blood. This story has been in the spotlight recently and I find it absurd that the Health Minister of Northern Ireland, Edwin Poots, can stand by a law like that which is based on his own personal discrimination. Poots tries to reason with the concerned public on this matter by saying that HIV/Aids virus' have increased by 300% in the last ten years. I would personally love to hear where exactly he got this scientific fact from, as, many an expert has gone on record to say that the likelihood of someone contracting such diseases from a blood transfusion from a gay donor would be approximately 1 in 4 million. You would have better luck at getting struck by lightning several times to be precise, so that kind of puts a spanner in Poots' wacky agendas. The simple fact is there is a shortage of donors within our hospitals, the actual consultants have confirmed this, so we cannot let our local MP's dictate what means of medical assistance we should be entailed to if we were ever to need it. I wonder what Poots would say if he, heaven forbid, was so poorly he needed a transfusion to save his life, and the only option was that from a homosexual man. Do you honestly think he would object then?
There are several large pro marriage equality campaigns in the media spotlight at present, one of the most successful being that of the NOH8 Campaign. They have a huge following and a large celebrity backing which is helping bring their protest to the vast majority public's attention. Their mission statement reads as follows; "The NOH8 Campaign is a charitable organisation who's mission is to promote marriage equality through education, advocacy, social media and visual protest." (For more information, follow this link)
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