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Tuesday's mid-term election will not only determine South Carolina's elected officials, but also the future of gay marriage in this state. S.C. voters will be making a decision on Amendment 1. Amendment 1 will eliminate common law marriage in S.C. and define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
Proponents of Amendment 1 have stated that outlawing gay marriage is a moral issue, and I agree.
Whether it is moral to prohibit one's right to marriage is exactly what is in question Tuesday.
Is it moral to deny more than 250,000 residents of this state the 1,100 civil rights that accompany marriage?
According to the South Carolina Equality Coalition, only 6 percent of S.C. residents are gay, which means that most of the people voting on this issue will not be directly affected by it. However, it is still our respons-ibility as Americans to make this decision. Throughout American history the majority has held the respon-sibility of protecting the rights of the minority. There comes a time when a portion of the majority combined with the minority has the ability to make some change.
It is my hope that we can bring that change Tuesday. Those against gay marriage are passionate about their beliefs and feel they have every right to discriminate against the gay community. It is time that those of us in favor of protecting the rights of others stand up and voice our opinion with that same passion.
About 1,100 civil rights are in jeopardy Tuesday. These rights include the right to inherit a spouse's estate, the right to family leave from an employer to care for one's spouse and the right to coordinate burial arrangements after the death of one's spouse. Amendment 1 will outlaw the right to receive family insurance rates, the right to confidentiality in court cases against a spouse and the right to public assistance benefits.
The sanctity of marriage is in jeopardy Tuesday. An entire group of Americans who want nothing more than the ability to marry might possibly lose that right.
These Americans could have given up a long time ago but desire the ability to marry so much that they are still fighting today.
Amendment 1 looks to uphold the sanctity of marriage by denying some the right to obtain it.
Limiting the rights of the gay community will do nothing on their impact to society.
The gay community is very much a part of American society, and they are not going anywhere. They are members of our workforce, our government, our military; they are citizens.
Tuesday, whatever your opinion, I hope that you voice it through your constitutional right to vote.
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