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Nov. 10, 2004 Let me just preface this article with, I am neither gay nor married. However, I don’t follow the conservative logic at blocking gay marriage. What’s the big deal? Conservatives needed something besides abortion to hang their hat on and so they grabbed the first item that passed by, gay marriage rights, and rode that elephant to its logical conclusion for them anyway. What I don’t understand is why everyone who wants to get married can’t? Are heterosexual conservatives threatened by gay couples that want to marry? It would appear so. Bob Barr who authored the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act is one of the most outspoken for the conservative party. This legislation made the recognition of same sex marriages illegal, defined marriage in terms of a man and a woman joined as husband and wife and stated that spouse was limited to the opposite sex. Furthermore, it stated that each state had the right to not accept gay marriages from other states across the nation. However, Bob Barr stopped short of proposing a constitutional amendment fashioned after this act stating that it would be federalism. (www.keepmedia.com and www.lectlaw.com) President Bush takes Bob Barr’s act one step further by inviting congress to join together and create a constitutional amendment that would prohibit any state, city, or municipality from allowing gay marriage or from redefining the term marraige. Bush’s intention behind this is to disallow states to make up their own minds on this hot issue and instead weave it into the fabric of our Constitution. (www.keepmedia.com) I don’t know about you, but this reads to me like he is working toward creating his own little dictatorship instead of allowing the free flow of democracy to reign within each state. Let me just provide you with a little background on the marriage and divorce rate across America then you can decide if it would be a problem to allow gays to marry. Taken from www.divorcemag.com; Massachusetts had the lowest divorce rate at 2.4 million. Nevada tipped the charts at nearly 9 million divorces in 1997. As of 2002, only 59% of the entire population across America were married, which was down from 62% in 1990. 24% of the population has never married. As of 1997 nearly 43% of all marriages ended in divorce. So with such grave statistics why wouldn’t we want to get a better show of marriage overall and allow the gays to marry after all I don’t think they could do it any worse? Conversely, there were over 5.5 million couple’s cohabitating in 2002. And over 9.2 million homes are run by single moms. (www.divorcemag.com) Doesn’t this say something serious about the institution of marriage? Don’t you think it is time we act fairly and impartially and allow all people who want to marry the ability to do so without regard to their sexual orientation? Reference: www.divorcemag.com www.keepmedia.com www.lectlaw.com ------------ About the author: Michelle Malsbury was born and raised in Champaign, Illinois. She attended Parkland College and the University of Illinois before graduating from the University of Phoenix with her degree in Business Management. Currently she is working on her master’s degree in Organizational Management while concurrently pursuing her lofty writing ambitions. Ms. Malsbury moved to south Florida in 1983 and resides between the Keys and Apalachicola, allowing her to experience the seasonal fluctuations between the southernmost and nearly northernmost beauty in the state of Florida. Travels have taken her from Europe through the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and across much of the United States. Michelle has been a bartender, real estate agent, flight attendant, beauty contestant, yacht broker, and commodities broker over the years, but writing is her passion. She enjoys outdoor activities like sailing, waterskiing, hiking, bike riding, working out, and fishing as well as reading, music, theatre, playing with her two amusing pets (Abu Chez, her 6 year old Australian Blue Heeler and Zack, her two year old yellow tabby cat) and writing. Michelle is a regular featured author on the web site Useless-Knowledge.com and enjoys exchanging points of view with her comrades there. “Three Years With Adonis” is the first to be published of several books that she has written and will be available early, to mid, 2005. In addition to “Three Years With Adonis”, she has authored four other books and three screenplays while continuing to explore all that life hands her. Email Michelle Malsbury: abuchez@mchsi.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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