Homosexuals Making Headlines

A recent AP article stated that in a national poll, people had "mixed views on gay-rights issues". Kind of an understatement. I find it interesting that, with all of the political hot-button issues and activities taking place right now, this is still such a hotly contested debate. Interestingly enough, a Columbia-based newspaper, Columbia Missourian, published a "question of the day" on April 9 asking if gay marriage should come to Missouri. While the article itself was relatively insignificant, the bloggers comments below it were amusing at best to read.

In 2004, Missouri (surprisingly ahead of the curve) overwhelmingly passed legislation stating that marriage shall only exist between a man and a woman. I find it interesting that Americans fight so hard for their "rights" to marry, but are seemingly lackadaisical when it comes to fighting for gun rights, taxes, and enforcement of laws.

In find it interesting that there is so much statistical data for married heterosexuals. Questions asked on students' tests, surveys and other data-collecting agencies almost always include the question of whether one is married and/or whether ones parents are married. Divorce statistics are readily available for any looking to argue the heterosexual marriage relationship. Somehow this data is supposed to help researchers, adoption agencies, and government make decisions that affect daily life. Ironically, there is very little to any information available about homosexual relationships. Perhaps this should be the single greatest argument for proponents and opponents alike of gay marriages. Now we would be able to track the average marriage length of homosexuals. It may be easier to identify external factors that affect longevity and/or viability of the gay relationship.

I believe that the gay marriage rights issue needs to be a national law (either for or against); the issue left up to the states leaves each state in a precarious position of handling these marriages when couples get married out of state.