Caroline Schaeffer

Writer

After a long and heated debate over the controversial Proposition 8, America finally rounded the corner and overturned the proposition this past summer. The California proposition opposing same-sex marriage caused much debate over the years and many felt its eradication would be a step forward in achieving equal rights for same-sex couples.  With the proposition’s overturn, same-sex marriage in California was declared legitimate, a right that had been previously denied to many couples in the past. Essentially, this is a step forward for the new age of American civil rights. In a country of freedom and equality, everyone should be allowed to make their own decision about their life without legal discrimination. Unfortunately, what is considered “the right thing to do” is not always easily achieved, and we still have a long way to go before we achieve true equality.

Personally, I believe that everyone has the right to love whomever he or she chooses, no matter the person’s gender. Same-sex marriage and homosexuality are a part of the world we live in, and I don’t believe that any one person has the right to tell another who he or she can and cannot marry. If it doesn’t severely affect the way you live your life, I don’t believe you have the right to be bothered by it. That being said, many Americans continue to hold on to the belief that same-sex marriage is illegitimate and wrong. Regrettably, this mentality is an obstacle in achieving complete equality in the United States.

Laws are easier to change than minds because people by nature are stubborn. Many Americans that supported Prop 8 are unlikely to change their minds on the matter just because the law tells them to do so. In order to create equal rights, it’s not the laws that need to change so much as it is the mentality of the people. For this reason, I believe we still have a ways to go in regard to achieving true social equality in the United States.

That being said–I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. As I said previously, people hold fast to their belief system. Many people opposed to same-sex marriage feel that way because that’s how they were raised. With continued legal progression and eradication of discriminatory laws, I believe the America of the future will be more tolerant and understanding of what was once considered “socially unacceptable.” What was once abnormal will gradually be integrated into the normal. I strongly believe this day will come, but I also believe that it will take time, patience, and a commitment to change on everyone’s part.