Whether you are in or out, last week's on-campus festivities for National Coming Out Day were a celebration of sexual freedom and understanding. The theme of this year's event was "Talk About It," encouraging discussion about gay rights and related issues. Following that idea, speakers and banners on Hayden Lawn sought to bring our attention to the Protect Arizona Marriage legislation that will be on next year's ballot.
You may be asking yourself, what is the Protect Arizona Marriage bill?
It is a proposed ballot measure that will make an amendment to the Arizona constitution specifically stating marriage can only be defined between one man and one woman. Yet, it goes further than that, saying, "No legal status for unmarried persons shall be created or recognized by this state or its political subdivisions that is similar to that of marriage."
This last part takes away medical and other benefits for unmarried couples, both gay and straight, living together in Arizona. Data from the Arizona Together Coalition, which is fighting this legislation, and the 2000 census identifies 118,196 unmarried couples in Arizona. Only 12,000 of these households were same-sex couples. That means 90 percent of those affected by this law would be straight couples.
While the Arizona Together Coalition opposes this legislation, there is another organization that helped lobby to get this bill on the ballot--The Center for Arizona Policy.
They are a conservative Christian think tank dedicated to excluding people they consider different, following a fundamentalist Christian moral agenda.
CAP can be compared to the Ku Klux Klan in its intolerance of others. They may not lynch people or burn down churches, but they take away freedom through legislation, and that is something even more frightening.
On its Web site, CAP gives four "Talking Points" regarding the Marriage Protection Amendment, explaining their point of view. To better understand their line of thinking, these points should be examined.
The first talking point on the CAP Web site states, "Across time and culture, marriage has always been defined as the union of one man and one woman." Does this mean we should use ancient definitions for every aspect of society? If so, maybe we should revert to the ideas that the world is flat, lightning bolts are spears thrown upon us by Zeus and bloodletting is a medical cure.
Our society has progressed to abolish the tradition of slavery, and to give women equal rights of men, yet these were customs tolerated "across time and culture."
The second point notes that 67 percent of Americans favor the traditional definition of marriage as proposed by the Protect Arizona Marriage bill. That's fine and dandy, but this legislation aims to take benefits away from unmarried straight couples, seeming to hurt these people more so than homosexuals.
If all CAP cares about is gay marriage, why push legislation that will affect a larger majority of straight people?
The reason is simple, it seems CAP does not believe in cohabitation among unmarried couples, perhaps as part of their ancient and outdated ideology.
For their third talking point, CAP notes that 37 states in the U.S. support traditional marriage. Again, thanks for the information, but this has nothing to do with the harmful effects of the proposed legislation with respect to medical benefits, the right to see a loved one in the hospital or other rights of unmarried couples, gay or straight.
Lastly, and certainly a favorite, CAP cites as their fourth talking point, the social benefits of the traditional marriage. The first line in the argument states, "Married, heterosexual adults are happier and healthier than unmarried, cohabitating or homosexual adults." That's interesting, especially since, as the Divorce Statistics Web site shows 50 percent of American marriages end in divorce.
Also, CAP does not provide any evidence for their argument on this point, acting as though readers will freely accept that unmarried cohabitating couples and homosexuals cannot be as happy as married couples. Stating such a ridiculous notion could only come from a group governed by an ancient book of myth, rather than an organization sincerely aimed at helping everyone.
The Protect Arizona Marriage bill is marketed as anti-gay legislation. Yet, it will do more to harm straight people than gays, simply because of a fundamentalist Christian organization, the Center for Arizona Policy and its president, Len Munsil.
Gay or straight, married or unmarried, Arizonans cannot let this bill pass. Young voters, such as ASU students, can help stop it. Let's show CAP we are willing to stand up against a fundamentalist Christian agenda.
If, however, we're wrong, I'll see you in hell.
Noah Lewkowitz is a graduate student in architecture. You can reach him walking on water at noah.lewkowitz@asu.edu.
