by Celine Araujo

Created on: September 27, 2008   Last Updated: May 18, 2010

The California Supreme Court has ruled in favour of legalizing gay marriage.
My problem is this: why did it take so long?

Gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered (LGBT) people have existed since the beginning of known civilization, and it has taken us over 2,000 years to finally grant them the right of marriage? This is yet another example of ancient, irrational prejudices that taint people's lives for thousands of years due to misconceptions and hearsay. Why does anyone have the right to deny someone their basic rights for any reason? LGBT people are living, breathing people just like any straight person. They feel, they want, they need. They need air, water, food and shelter to survive. If you cut them, they bleed. People are still people, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, beliefs or sexual preference.

And just like any other person, LGBT people need love. If a straight person can date, display public affection, and get married, members of the LGBT community should absolutely be allowed the same rights. Homophobia is a closed-minded, ignorant view that is equivalent to racism and sexism, despite the desperate ploys of homophobics to try and convince us otherwise. Prejudice is prejudice, no matter who the discrimination is aimed against. In the same way, love is love, no matter what form it takes or between what genders it is practiced.

Yet perhaps the most unnerving part of the homophobic attitude is the perceived right of straight people to control and limit what rights LGBT people are allowed to have, due to a false pretense that they are of a higher standing than LGBT people, as an adult would be superior to a child. If you are not a LGBT person, you have no right to control the daily life and rights of the LGBT community. Also, why should a straight person be offended or be negatively impacted by the decision of a LGBT couple to get married? The matter is purely personal, and does not impact the straight person in any way. What harm does a gay marriage do? Under the law, isn't an act considered wrong only if it harms the individual or someone else? A simple marriage does not impact anyone but the couple and their families, and denying LGBT people the right of marriage is the same as refusing someone access to a public bathroom or a seat on a bus - it's wrong and completely uncalled for.

And just as the seat on that bus is a right, as Rosa Parks made clear, marriage too is a right, and it is a wonderful thing that the California Supreme Court has realized that. Now if only there was a Rosa Parks for every country, province, and state all around the world, so that everyone - straight, LGBT or whatever, can get married as freely, simply and without hassle as a person sits on a bus.

Learn more about this author, Celine Araujo.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.