By Leanne Park
It was in 1996 that the Defense of Marriage Act was signed by Bill Clinton, stating that a marriage was exclusively between a man and a woman. This was over ten years ago and today, one can find Clinton publicly refuting the legitimacy of the reason behind said legislation.
Meanwhile in 2008, Proposition 8 was passed in the state of California, purely recognizing marriages between a man and a woman. Since then, the Proposition has been taken to Supreme Court as being unconstitutional, and the court is expected to make its decision by June 2013.
This year, in which Barack Obama is serving his second term, gay rights were compared with that of the struggles of the civil rights movement in the President’s inaugural speech. The President has seemingly taken a stance to support gay rights activists, a huge milestone in terms of accumulating executive support for this area of controversy.
While the fight for the legalization of gay marriage seems to grow more in favor of the gay activists every day, it is still appalling to consider that certain rights are denied to fellow citizens as if they were second class. Not only are these citizens not allowed to get married to the person they love, but because they cannot marry, they are also denied the right to make emergency medical decisions on behalf of their loved ones, adopt children in need of a loving family, and gain from Social Security and disability benefits.
Where is the justification behind this absurdity? Are these people not considered human beings just because they fail to love someone outside of their own sex? Despite this slight difference, and much to the dismay of many Conservatives, they love the same way as any straight person. The only problem serves to be that the government fails to treat them as equals.
This year, it is 2013 and we see powerful people like Clinton and Obama advocating for change. We see people demanding the overturn of Proposition 8, and it is apparent that public opinion is shifting. It is 2013 and slowly, but surely, the overdue change is coming.
Opinion: Gay Marraige
