FrancisPage

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Your Gay Marriage Doesn't Threaten My Straight One

First, a disclaimer: I'm single. I'm straight. But my parents are married. That's close enough for me to say to conservatives, "Get a grip."

I have yet to see any evidence, beyond the biblical, that same-sex marriages devalue marriage in general or devalue families. This is the rallying cry made again and again by family and religious organizations.

If you think about it, we don't even need gay marriages to degrade straight ones. We've done that already. We've done it through a 50 percent divorce rate. We've done it through "triple-a:" adultery, abuse, abandonment. We've gotten into committments we weren't ready for, and we refused to let somebody talk us out of them because nobody else is allowed to be judgmental when we're in love. I find it amazing the right wing forgets all of this now.

Instead of denying gay couples a legal right to marry when they are given that right, it's time to improve the marriages we already have, gay or straight. Think about this: you take a test to get a drivers license. You take the bar exam to practice law. You take tests to practice medicine and dispense prescriptions. But aside from a few medical examinations, nobody tests you on your relationship skills before you get a marriage license. It's like getting tags for your dog. No wonder we see so many marriages break up.

I'm interested to see what the divorce rate will be among gay couples, once we've had a few years to study gay marriages. Something tells me it will be lower, mainly because those who are committing to relationships now have been committed unofficially for a long time already. And then maybe the rest of us can get a few clues.

Rules Of Engagement

The views expressed on this blog are those of Christopher Francis and the various respondents. They are not necessarily those of his employer, KOLD-TV, KMSB-TV, Gray Television or TEGNA, Inc.

Practice your honors. Spam, racism and excessive language in comments will not be tolerated.

All material is Copyright © 2004-2019 By Christopher Francis except for material identified from other sources which is the property of those other sources. No infringement is intended.

Links and video embedded in postings may fail to work properly after several weeks from the date of the original post. I have no control over this.

In personal accounts, numerous names have been omitted as a courtesy so that their remarks may be shared without risk of embarrassment.

Contestants must meet eligibility requirements. Segments not affecting the outcome of the game have been edited. Celebrities have been briefed in order to help them with their bluffs. Due to a production problem, the car game was replaced. Two incomplete rolls of the dice were edited from the program. Prices of the prizes do not include sales tax. Some celebrities have been provided with comedic material.