One Million Moms vs JC Penny and homosexuality

One Million (but not really) Moms has a problem with Two Dads.  Because obviously, their lives are directly affected in a negative way by this happy family they've never met.  All gay couples ruin strangers' lives by existing in the same universe.  Obviously.

For as much support there is for the LGBT community today -- from the FCK H8 campaign to President Obama's proclamation of LGBT Pride Month -- there is a set of the stubbornly intolerant that never seems to completely go away.  The typical justification of the anti-gay movement is that it harms traditional marriage, or that if we allow men to marry men and women to marry women, next people will be allowed to marry their dogs or computers.


What the first argument fails to acknowledge is that tradition varies greatly from culture to culture.  For example, the definition of marriage as union between one man and one woman does not apply to the Islam faith, which allows (albeit conditionally) polygamy.  Muslim men can have up to four wives, as this is what tradition in their culture dictates.  Experience Project user ChakatBlackStar says on the topic of the definition of "traditional marriage":

You know...I've seen this in several discussions about same-gender marriage. The argument that those against it always [seem] to fall back on is the definition of "traditional marriage". But here's the thing that bugs me...the traditional definition of marriage has changed many times in the past and has varied from culture to culture. In the old days, there were cultures that allowed men to marry multiple women, or ... women to marry multiple men, or ... both. There have been restrictions on marrying foreigners .... [I]n the US there were laws preventing whites from marrying blacks, and in most cultures divorce was forbidden for centuries.

So If "traditional marriage" has changed before, what's wrong with changing it again? It's not as if those who still have male-female traditional marriages would lose anything, right?

Regarding the second argument: dogs and computers can neither consent to marriage nor sign a marriage contract.  Gay marriage does not constitute an individual trying to wed a member of a different species or an inanimate object.  It is a matter of two consenting adults who want to officially enter a committed relationship, and for some, raise a family.

On the other hand, if someone does want to marry their dog or telephone, this would affect straight marriage with the same magnitude that gay marriage would -- which is to say, none at all.

Along with these arguments, it is often heard that concerned parents don't want their children exposed to the idea that gay marriage is normal.  What, then, do they want to teach their children?  Intolerance?  That love needs to meet qualifications in order to be acceptable?  That love can be "unacceptable" at all?

Going back to the One Million Moms campaign against JC Penny (specifically, their ads featuring gay individuals and couples): I understand that their intention is to protect their children, according to their beliefs about what is right and wrong.  Their concern is manifested through a certain level of discrimination -- but it is real concern nonetheless.

Here are my thoughts on this: the best thing you can teach your child is love.  To love their family, their friends, their community, their country, themselves, what have you.  The second best thing you can teach your child is that everybody loves something in the same way that they do.  It may not be same thing, and they may not show it in the same way, but at the end of the day, love is love, and we have to learn to respect that even if we don't always understand it.

I started this post on a rather catty note, and I'd like to end it with a point made by One Million Moms with which I strongly agree: We want our children to have the best chance possible of living in a moral society.  I want my children to grow up in a society where you aren't subjected to bullying because of your sexual orientation -- ideally, where you aren't bullied at all.  I hope any future son or daughter of mine will be able, if they'd like, to marry the person they love.  And to do so without invoking hatred from strangers halfway around the world.

I hope that the next generation gets to enjoy not only love, but also, just as importantly, acceptance.