Gay Rights - Separate but Equal?

I've been wanting to write about this topic for a while and have finally found the words to convey my feelings:

Last week the California Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, making California the second state where gay and lesbian residents can marry. The court held that “an individual’s sexual orientation, like a person’s race or gender, does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights.” This was a good day for American Democracy and for the dignity of millions of American citizens. Right now same-sex couples are denied 1,138 rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples (according to US Govt Accountability Office). A recent Gallup Poll found that the country is split 47% / 47% on whether homosexual relationships are morally acceptable, with high unacceptable numbers coming from the South and from older Americans. But, indeed the California Supreme Court is no stranger to moving ahead of public sentiment. In 1947 the court became the first in the country to strike down the anti-miscegenation laws, recognizing that interracial bans on marriage violated the 14thAmendment of the Constitution.

Some argue that civil unions will provide same-sex couples with the same rights as heterosexual marriages, but that marriage is a sacred union and should be reserved for one man and one woman. Sounds a lot like the separate but equal argument to me. Haven't we already settled that debate. For me the principle of equal rights is ensuring the dignity of same-sex relationships are respected and the meaning of their deepest emotions are valued on the same level as heterosexual marriages. I believe the US Constitution requires and guarantees this level of equality. Simply providing same-sex couples with the rights afforded under civil unions creates a second class citizenry. When African-Americans refused to sit at the back of the bus in the Jim Crow South, it wasn't because walking a few extra steps was a material deprivation, but because it said to the world that they were second-class citizens. A law that denies a group of citizens equal access to a public institution serves no other purpose than to declare that group to be lesser. And this is why it is nonsense to say same-sex couples can enjoy equality before the law while they are barred from taking their place in one of the most fundamental institutions in American life--Marriage. An institution recognized and certified by the State, as well as the church.

Obviously the Religious Right has trumpeted their strong opposition to a homosexual relations, claiming God ordained marriage to be between a man and a women, and to allow gay marriage, or even civil unions between homosexual partners, is to encourage willful disobedience to God's will. While I acknowledge their full right to hold this belief, and for some churches to not accept same-sex couples, I do not share this view with the Religious Right. I believe strongly that God is present in the relationships of committed same-sex couples, and has blessed their relationship with the same love, opportunities and promises he bestows upon my relationship with my wife. Some of my Christian friends question this view. However, my reassurance is not shaken by old Hebrew scripture, but reconfirmed by the image of God's love in the faces, hearts and life commitments of the same-sex relationships I have witnessed within my core group of friends and family members.

Most same-sex couples, especially those of faith, desire to be married for the same reason as heterosexuals: to make a commitment with the one they love in front of their God, family, friends and faith community, and to enter into a relationship recognized, ordained and blessed by their God. If they find a faith community that agrees their relationship is blessed by God, the State should not deny that fundamental right.