There’s a “new normal” brewing across the country, yet it embraces values that have stood the test of time: equality and freedom.
That “new normal” is what Gallup calls the acceptance of same-sex couples that they find is growing. A recent Gallup poll shows that 54 percent of Americans agree that gay and lesbian relationships are “morally acceptable.” Even more say same-sex couple relationships should be legal.
Package that with the endorsement delivered earlier this month by President Barack Obama and it’s clear the tide is shifting in favor of marriage equality.
Acceptance is coming to Georgia, too, though at a much slower pace. A recent Landmark Communications/Rosetta Stone poll for WSB-TV shows 59 percent of Georgians are opposed to gay marriage, a number that has shrunk since nearly three-quarters of voters in 2004 approved adding a same-sex marriage ban to the state Constitution. It’s still substantial and a sentiment that is shared across the South.
But what the current polls don’t show is that Atlanta is packed with same-sex couples and ranks among the top five in large cities across the U.S. for same-sex households. It’s the same across metro Atlanta and the rest of Georgia. Same-sex couples live in the mountains, along the coast and in the southwest corner of the state, too. And these couples, just like their heterosexual neighbors, are in loving and committed relationships, promising to care for one another for better and for worse.
Unlike their neighbors, though, they can’t share their marriage vows with one another and legally show they cherish their partner in the same way their straight neighbors do. Don’t be lured into embracing the fears manufactured by opponents of same-sex marriage. They want to distract you from the Golden Rule, twist its meaning and convince you that what poll after poll shows — more Americans support same-sex marriage than oppose it — is wrong. It’s not.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that same-sex marriage is about rights or that because I may want to marry my partner some day means your marriage needs to be redefined. Plain and simple, this is about respecting the tradition of marriage, its importance in society and allowing gay couples to join the institution, not change it.
I respect the honor and tradition that comes with marriage; it worked for my parents, and I want the chance to have it work for me.
Gay couples share the ideals that marriage is a heavy responsibility and comes with a lifetime commitment and we want to express that to our partner. Gay marriage is not a game. It’s not a political strategy and it shouldn’t be used as a weapon to beat down the love I have for my partner.
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Matt Hennie is founder of Project Q Atlanta, an online media source that reports on gay and lesbian issues in metro Atlanta.
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