“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.
-Kennedy
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
When #LoveWins, It Shouldn’t Crush People’s Consciences
Though I oppose gay marriage, I found the enthusiasm that June 26—the rainbow photos on Facebook, the cheering and the exultation that “#lovewins”—inspiring. It showed many Americans’ thirst for justice and their determination that our country’s laws reflect love and kindness. I disagree with them on what is just and loving, primarily because I think children deserve a dad and a mom, but it’s heartening to witness so much moral energy. “Love is patient, love is kind. … It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs,” goes the Corinthians verse read at so many weddings. Yet that is not the attitude being shown toward the Kleins, or those religious organizations that want to both stay true to their beliefs and continue receiving the tax-exempt status that allows them to contribute more of their funds to activities such as educating poor children, feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless. When love wins, it doesn’t do so by crushing people’s consciences, by forcing them to adhere to what their beliefs tell them is wrong. No one should understand this better than those in the gay marriage movement, who laudably and vigorously fought for decades, against public opinion and current laws, for what they believed was morally true: that any two adults should be able to legally marry. They honored their beliefs all those years. Now, they should give those on the other side of the issue the ability to live in accordance with their beliefs.
-Katrina Trinko
When Love Wins, Children Win Too: Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage
It’s the best kind of historic day, the kind where you can’t stop reading the news because the news is so good for a change, so full of love. The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to make marriage officially and legally a right for all couples, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, is a victory for human rights, a victory for love, and a victory for families. So many have already written about the momentousness of today, often with personal storiesand eloquent comparisons to Loving v. Virginia, but I want to add an angle that I have not seen discussed much yet: that of children. Since 2002, the American Academy of Pediatrics has supported the adoption of children by a parent’s same-sex partner. It has taken 13 years for those children to have the right to live in any state in the country with two parents who are legally married as well. The AAP updated their policy statement, “Promoting the Well-Being of Children Whose Parents Are Gay or Lesbian,” two years ago to support “access for all children to (1) civil marriage rights for their parents and (2) willing and capable foster and adoptive parents, regardless of the parents’ sexual orientation.” Did the AAP do this to be politically correct? No. They did it for the same reason they issue any policy statement: the evidence supports that this is the most appropriate policy for their highest priority, “the optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being of all infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.” As you read about anti-marriage equality conservatives melting downover today’s decision, keep in mind that they are not promoting family values by denying children’s parents the right to marry. Those who oppose same sex marriage are not on the right side of history, the right side of morality, the right side of ethics, the right side of humanity, the right side of love, or, as of today, the right side of the law. It’s time for that stigma to end, not just legally but socially in every corner of the U.S. This ruling will convey to those children that not only their parents love and accept them but also that their government respects their families and the right of their parents to love one another. There is no question that the modeling of a healthy, loving relationship between two parents is the best way to teach children how to develop healthy relationships themselves.
-Tara Haelle
What I have learned through my research
Gay marriage has been an extremely controversial topic in the United States within the past couple years. Recently, it has become nationally legal. The way that the public is expressing their opinion is through twitter, attaching the hashtag #LoveWins to each tweet as they state whether they agree or disagree. This hashtag has now gone viral and is considered one of the most popular hashtags on social media. his hashtag actually has a much deeper meaning than most people realize. Love is a powerful term that everyone can relate to. By saying “love wins” the public is saying that not just one person, or team “wins” or beats you, the feeling wins. A good feeling that everybody shares has won, and that speaks volumes. #LoveWins has normalized gay marriage because it has been used in ways that everyone can relate to it. No matter what race or sexual orientation, we all love and are loved. I believe that it is the best representation of the steps toward complete equality in our country. The huge popularity of this hashtag has allowed everyone to recognize what truly matters: love and happiness. I think it sends a significant message to the American people. “Love winning” is basically saying that we all have won. The more I study twitter and the tweets linked to this hashtag, the more I appreciate #LoveWins. The influence that this hashtag has had on our country is more powerful than anyone could ever realize. It has allowed people to look at gay marriage from a love perspective rather than the biblical perspective, allowing the country as a whole to be more accepting and thinking of it as something normal. Twitters large popularity and frequent use is what blew up the #LoveWins trend, releasing so many tweets about this topic to the world. The more we read about it and the more we are exposed to it, the more comfortable we become with controversial subjects just like this one. And because of twitter, everyone is presented daily with peoples thoughts and comments on this controversy. The combination of all the different ways that people have interpreted this hashtag exemplifies #LoveWins overall because each person could relate to it in at least one way in which it has been used. Twitter has helped define #LoveWins as something that everyone deserves, which will then make everyone agree with it.
Purpose
I decided to create this blog to share mine, and others thoughts and opinions on gay marriage and the hashtag #LoveWins.
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