My personal view has been in line with the LDS Church as discussed in class. As we are all God's children and loved equally, all people should have basic rights regarding medical emergencies and health insurance, Social Security and tax benefits, inheritance, jointly held finances, etc. I fully support the idea of state/federal civil unions that legally grant equal state/federal rights such as the ones listed.
With the recent repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the military, gay rights continues to be at the forefront of the national political scene. When the Justice Department recently defended the Defense of Marriage Act as part of its legal responsibility, the LGBT community responded by lobbying President Obama to give his full support to same-sex marriage. What is interesting is that Obama used to have this view, but has instead been in favor of civil unions at least since his 2008 presidential campaign. Rulings of legal documents like the DOMA being discriminatory and unconstitutional leave us wondering if the eventual outcome will be similar to the Civil Rights Movement. While it is very possible that same-sex marriage is legalized in the future, will people ever fully accept it into American culture? There is no doubt that along with the economy and foreign affairs, a candidate's position on gay rights will play a major role in the 2012 presidential campaign.
I agree whole heartedly that all people should have access to the basic rights that were mentioned. I also think that there is no doubt that gay marriage will eventually be made legal. However I am certain that it will never be fully accepted into American culture. There are to many religions whose doctrine speaks out against it and unless they change their doctrine which I know that LDS church will not, there will never be full acceptance. The LDS church will recognize the legal rights of those individuals and still accept them as children of God but they will not recognize the union as being marriage. I believe this will be true of other religions as well.
ReplyDeleteI do not hold harsh feelings towards people for being gay.