by Jennifer Johnston
Friday, June 26, 2015 is a day that will be remembered and celebrated (perhaps not by some, but that is their problem) as a huge milestone in the history of our country....
On that date, by a vote of 5-4, the United States Supreme Court (Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan and Breyer) ruled that marriage may no longer be denied to a group of our citizens, specifically those consenting adults who choose to marry another consenting adult of the same sex. The ruling was a long time in coming, although it must be said that in the end, it actually came more quickly than perhaps might have been imagined just a few years ago. And although I know there are some who will disagree with me, IT WAS THE CORRECT RULING and should indeed have happened sooner.
I have never understood the rationale behind denying the fundamental rite (and right) of marriage to a huge class of our citizens.... Sorry, but religious objections should have NO CONSIDERATION and NO SWAY in what is a bedrock matter of civil rights.... It is VERY SIMPLE: If you don't want to marry someone of the same sex, if it is against your religious beliefs, then by all means DON'T!!!! No one will force you to do so. But don't try to deny that inalienable right to others...
"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal." These stirring words, from our Declaration of Independence, adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776 are beautiful, inspiring ... and poignant.... For at the time of the Declaration of Independence, women were considered as chattel by their husbands; slavery was an institution (not only the slavery of black men and women and children, but of others, including the Irish); and in so many other ways, it was so obvious that ALL men (and women) were not considered or held equal in the eyes of the law....
However, I believe ... I have always believed ... that the Declaration of Independence, along with the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution, were written by good and decent men, who intended that those documents were only a template, and that they would be living, breathing instruments for the growth and future direction of our country, as times and attitudes changed and adaptation became necessary and required....
I remember when we were students at CHS there were more than one of our fellow students who were gay ... some might have been a bit more obvious than others, and I grieve still that they were subjected to taunts and slurs and unreasonable harassment ... and I know that there were others, who managed to "hide" within the majority student body, and only "came out" (if they EVER did) many years later.... Many people of our age, and younger, and older, wondered if this day of marriage equality would ever come during their lifetimes ... and sadly, for many, it did not.
So as we approach the July 4th celebration of our independence, let us note and rejoice that at very long last this group of people has been granted rights which they should have had all along, and resolve that discrimination against others is, ab initio, wrong.... And let us also resolve to continue to nurture and grow this country (which by the way was NOT founded as nor intended to be a Christian nation) WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL....
)O(
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