This year, spring will be gayer than winter.
UF’s Pride Student Union held the opening ceremony for its Pride Awareness Month on Monday. PAM is one of the largest student-run celebrations of queer culture and identity in the country.
PAM is always an entertaining and enlightening showcase, but there is another arena in which queer matters will be emphasized this season. Specifically, the issue of gay marriage will soon be taking the spotlight in the United States Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court will hear the controversial case regarding California’s Proposition 8 on Tuesday. Then, the Court is set to hear the case regarding the Defense of Marriage Act on Wednesday.
Proposition 8 was the bill passed in California in 2008, which overturned the rights same-sex couples previously had to be married. The Defense of Marriage Act is a law which restricts the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.
It is unclear when a decision for either of these cases will be reached, but some expect it will be by the end of June.
No matter what the decisions for those cases end up being, I think the time is soon approaching when same-sex couples will finally be treated equally under the law and be allowed to take part in the civil institution of marriage.
I can recall the day when Proposition 8 was passed. It was disappointing to hear about the decision that many Californians made, just as it was disappointing to hear about the heavy involvement of the Mormon Church in supporting the passage of Proposition 8.
Today, the Church stands in support of Proposition 8 as strongly as ever. In January, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — the Mormon Church — filed two briefs with the Supreme Court, one for each of the gay marriage cases.
The briefs were written on behalf of several Christian groups, including the Southern Baptist Convention.
“Our theological perspectives, though often differing, converge to support the proposition that the traditional, opposite-sex definition of marriage in the civil law is not only constitutional but essential to the welfare of families, children, and society,” reads the brief for the Defense of Marriage Act case.
Being raised Mormon, I can vouch for the integrity of that statement: Such a perspective is theologically supported and can be supported only on those grounds.
I haven’t heard a single argument against gay marriage — and only against gay marriage — that didn’t depend on a religious claim of some kind.
A lot has changed in the five years since the passage of Proposition 8. I think many people who have historically been opposed to gay marriage are coming to the conclusion that they are standing on the wrong side of history when they oppose it.
I have often found myself imagining a future in which our posterity will gawk at how slow we have been as a society to allow equality.
Earlier this month, a heartwarming appeal to Chief Justice Roberts was uploaded to YouTube. Twelve-year-old Daniel Martinez-Leffew, who was adopted along with his sister at the age of 5 by two gay men, got the idea to address Roberts when he heard the chief justice had two adopted children of his own. In the video, Daniel talks to Justice Roberts about the rights of “people like us.” If you have time to watch the clip, please do.
It’s easy to ignore how much courage that really takes. Imagine what it must feel like to have the people you love regularly labeled as filthy or wicked.
I am inspired by the courage of that 12-year-old. I am inspired by all who show courage in the face of a world that might not understand them.
To all those who are different, who have been called wicked or ugly or somehow wrong without due cause, your courage inspires me.
To them, I offer my most loving thanks. And thanks to all who would stand for morality and goodness.
If you find that you have any free nights in the coming month, check out the Pride Awareness Month calendar. The events are sure to be edifying.
Happy spring, everyone.
Brandon Lee Gagne is an anthropology senior. His column runs on Fridays. You can contact him via opinions@alligator.org.
