Many supporters of TN Amendment 1 will tell you that it upholds the “traditional marriage.” In fact, it allows for a non-traditional marriage in one set of circumstances. Up until 1967, couples of different races were not allowed to marry in sixteen different states (that’s 32% of the country). So at that time, that would have been considered a non-traditional marriage.
Continuing with this logic, if we don’t want homosexuals to upset traditional marriage, shouldn’t we also prevent couples of different races from marrying too? That’s not very traditional, when you consider that from 1776 until then, it wasn’t legal for those couples to marry. Personally, I would consider 191 years more of a tradition than 39 years. So, why is there not an initiative to protect the “sanctity of marriage” from the harms that interracial marriage can do to it? The answer is that to not allow those couples to marry is simply discrimination.
Now, those supporters will reply to your reasoning with the cliché statement that someone’s race is not a choice, but homosexuality is. To which you should promptly remind them that the American Psychological Association does not consider sexual orientation to be a choice.
The next thing they’ll tell you is that children do better with opposite-sex parents. According to a U.S. Study by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institution, and also the American Psychological Association, children do no better or worse with same-sex or opposite-sex parents. Yet again, the supporters of Amendment 1 want you to believe that they’re in this to protect the “sanctity of marriage,” but really they’re in this to spread their hatred and discrimination into our state’s constitution.
Of course, any discussion of the same-sex marriage wouldn’t be complete without the all-too-familiar reminder of the “slippery slope of same-sex marriage.” Don’t forget that same-sex marriage will lead to polygamy, since I’ve seen such a barrage of homosexuals demanding the right to marry sixteen people. Also, I’ve noticed a trend of people interested in marrying animals. Now who wouldn’t want to marry Snowball, their beloved feline companion of 5 years? And, I almost forgot to mention incest. But wait, Tennessee already allows for first cousins to marry. It’s completely legal, so let’s just forget about that. I’m quite sure that marrying Ellie-Mae is still upholding the “sanctity of marriage.”
What about those fabulous Las Vegas weddings. There’s nothing more sacred than getting married in a drive-through window by Elvis Presley. Or perhaps, marrying someone and getting an annulment within days (Oops, I did it again!). So this alleged “sanctity of marriage” seems to have a lot of problems with it right now, this begs the question of “Why would it hurt to allow marriage to exist between two loving partners?” The answer is simple. It wouldn’t. On November 7th, don’t forget to Vote No on TN 1. Live above the lie, the “sanctity of marriage” needs to be reminded that the “equality of marriage” is much more important. Marriage equality matters.
More information against the amendment can be found at http://www.VoteNoOn1TN.com/
Conversely, more information for the amendment can be found at http://www.RealMarriage.org/