November 15, 2006 at 11:25:50

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By Bob Portune (about the author) Page 1 of 2 page(s)

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For OpEdNews: Bob Portune - Writer

I've been reading and hearing (and even writing) thousands of exuberant words over the past week about "the will of the people," paeans to the way America's collective voice rang out clearly and defiantly last Tuesday. Many of us on the Left have exulted in an apparent return to reason by the average citizen - our happiness tempered only by the fact that it's taken that average citizen too damn long to catch up with what we've known from the start.

2,853 lives too long, to be exact.

Nevertheless, the midterm "sea change" is a reason to be proud of the American voter's innate (if slow to arrive) common sense. It's a sign of the fundamental intelligence and independence of our nation's inhabitants. It's a repudiation of the imperial and theocratic agenda pursued by the extremists who'd hijacked the Republican Party for over a decade.

Or so I've been told.

I'll admit, Dems didn't just flip Washington on its ear. Liberals swarmed into governors' mansions and state legislatures. Stem cell research was approved in Missouri, the draconian abortion ban was struck down in South Dakota, and minimum wage increases received a resounding "Yea" in all six states where they were offered.

There's just one problem, one not-so-little thing that stops me from joining in the celebration of that "will of the people." And don't get me wrong - I'd love nothing more than to think that Americans as a whole were finally getting the big picture, and realizing that the calendar reads "21st Century."

But those same voters on that same day voted in seven separate states to legislate discrimination against American citizens. Their neighbors. Their co-workers. Their sons and daughters. Their fellow human beings.

That same collective voice of "the people" was raised in arbitrary bigotry masquerading as "God's will." It was raised to marginalize and stigmatize. It was raised to label a specific group as strictly second-class, deserving of the most vile rumor and slander, undeserving of the same civil and cultural rights as a majority of Americans.

Oh sure, this particular expression of "will" is excused and explained in high-sounding, moralistic language, decked out in Biblical finery, and accessorized with words like "tradition" and "sanctity." But lets drop the bullshit, America. Let's cut to the chase.

If as a society we're going to continue to so inexcusably vote this way behind a curtain, then let's at least summon the nerve to publicly admit that in our juvenile, prurient, peeping Tom culture, opposition to same-sex marriage is about one thing, and one thing only:

The sex itself.

That's right - and don't even try to say it's something of a more noble nature. That electorate in which I'm supposed to feel some sense of pride and kinship has a knee-jerk (with emphasis on "jerk") reaction to the topic of gay marriage, a reaction which, at its core, is nothing nobler than a vivid mental image of the wedding night.

I mean, it just couldn't be anything else, could it - especially when every other "argument" against it is demonstrably ridiculous? A "threat" to heterosexual marriage? With gay-unions already widely prohibited and a divorce rate of almost fifty percent among those long-term couples that even decide to get married, it seems like same-sex matrimony is the least of the problems facing permanent wedded bliss.

Hey, it doesn't endanger my relationship. Certainly far less than that hot, energetic, rich young couple that just moved in down the block!

Protecting the children? Oh please. There's simply no statistical evidence to support the contention that the ultimate sexual orientation of children raised by gay parents in a loving, stable household differs in any way from those living in straight homes. Or do you actually believe that our current gay and lesbian citizens were all nurtured in same-sex environments?

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www.bobportune.com

After 25 years as a Post-Production Specialist in the greater New York/New Jersey area, Bob recently relocated to Orlando to continue his editorial business and begin Art Directing high-end commemorative magazines. He's been extensively involved (more...)

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