Same sex marriage: the last Hail Mary?

by Eche Sicancu

You’d probably not have predicted it but Iowa—the archetypal traditional mid-western state—became only the third in the US to grant marriage rights to Gays and Lesbians.

As a student in Iowa I had the privilege of witnessing, what was called, a “Pride rally” in order to celebrate this event.

Since then, Vermont has gone on to legalize gay marriage and, as we know, New York Governor David Paterson is planning to introduce a bill on same marriage this week. These developments are major pointers to the fact that the global debate on same sex marriage is taking a significant turn.

In many countries homosexuality is illegal and, the activities of gays/lesbians are shrouded in brazen secrecy. Same sex couples in many places around the world risk being lynched, tortured, ridiculed, alienated, or even killed for making public their sexual orientation.

In West Africa for instance, a gay conference was banned in Ghana sometime ago by the government with the reason that “Unnatural carnal knowledge is illegal under our criminal code” while a friend of mine Theo Yakah (now at the Fletcher Scool-Tufts Unv.) who once wrote in defense of gay rights was subject to public heckling over his call for ‘stopping the culture of hate and discrimination.”

Only recently in Alabama two gay men, Milton Lindgren and Eric Hendrickes, were murdered in their home. According to police reports, this happened just for the simple fact that the men were gay. Last year Moses “Teish” Cannon a gay black man in NY was killed with a .22 caliber rifle simply because someone didn’t like his “gayness”. Similar incidents have been reported in other states and other places in Europe (especially Spain), Africa, and fundamental Islamic countries.

Nevertheless, what’s interesting is that certain well known anti-gay institutions, such as the conservative right wing movement, in the United States are beginning to warm up to the idea of gay marriage. Steven Schmidt, John McCain’s foremost campaign adviser in the last elections shocked the political world, last week, when he endorsed gay marriage at the convention of the Log Republicans.

In a forceful but thoroughly perceptive speech, Schmidt argued that “If you put public policy issues to a religious test, you risk becoming a religious party. According to him, “…in a free country, a political party cannot be viable in the long term if it is seen as a sectarian party.”

The first thing that came to mind when I first heard of the event was “You mean there’s actually a conservative event to discuss same sex marriage?” But I was in for a bigger surprise when I heard not only Schmidt but…gasp…John McCain’s daughter Megan McCain calling on the Republican Party to be ‘gay friendly” and “forget the past”. It was then that I realized how fast the tide against same sex marriage was beginning to change. When you hear voices like these, making such statements, you know something significant (with global implications) is about to happen.

As to whether this is for the good or for the bad remains to be seen. That said, a more crucial question is: Is this really going to happen? Are we going to see a world where gay marriage is going to be legalized and accepted? What kind of world will that be?

In addition, what are the arguments for or against same sex marriage? I’m not sure, but it seems much of the discussion has centered on four main issues (1) religion (2) justice or human rights (3) culture, and (4) Life, liberty/freedoms and the pursuit of happiness.

Obviously we live in remarkable times! I’ll be very much interested in finding out what your views are on this matter or what the situation is in your country. It’s a World of Opinion out there my friends, what do you think?
PS: Also please take part in the short poll on same-sex marriage at the right-hand section of the blog...Thanks!