Joining my roommate on Xbox Live, we were playing the popular game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.” I took his headset and talked with the other players while he was playing the game.

At first it was just idle conversation, nothing really important and then I heard a couple of guys, who knew each other, talking about how “gay people are stupid.” I asked them “Why are gay people stupid?” and was hit with an onslaught of name-calling, rudeness, and accusations. This went on for over two hours while my roommate was playing his game. We also had a younger kid, I’m guessing between twelve and fifteen, join our battle group and he started right in with the other two guys. Eventually, the kid and I ended up on the same team without the other two and we were able to talk without their influence. At first he was still being rude, but soon he started asking questions and eventually quit being brash.

He even sent a friend request after we had logged off the game.

I thought this kind of behavior stopped years ago. I didn’t know that playing Xbox Live meant you were straight and couldn’t ever be anything else. I was apparently wrong.

For two hours I was asked rude questions and made fun of. I even tried to be serious and ask them why they thought such things, and I was told that “all gay people are the same” and that “gay people are just gay.”

On this campus we have a wonderful, but small group of people called the Adrian College Safeplace. The group meets every Thursday at 8:30pm in the skyboxes in Caine Student Center. At the moment, a plan is being put together to educate the faculty on being aware of homosexuality and how to deal with LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) students, called the Ally Project. It is meant to teach them that they can make Adrian College a safe place for anyone, instead of just the straight majority. Safeplace, after educating the faculty, wants to reach out to students and help them feel safe or help them support other students on campus. The group holds meetings open to everyone who wishes to attend.

I’m just shocked by how many hurtful things can be said. If I didn’t have thick skin and people on campus I could really rely on, where would I be after an onslaught like that? I’m glad that there are so many accepting people on campus. But the world needs to be accepting, not just a small group of people.
Right now we are seeing those states that supported gay marriage revoke it. Even California, one of the most accepting states in the union, is proposing to revoke gay marriage. I don’t know what to think of this, but that my options and rights as a person are being taken away.

But that’s not the point.

The point is that people need to be accepting and not so quick to become defensive because of their insecurities, lack of knowledge, or preconceived notions about certain people.

Same-sex marriage is currently only allowed in five states: Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Unfortunately, US citizens have taken it upon themselves to prevent others from sharing the same rights that heterosexual couples already enjoy; this opposition baffles me.
For starters, it seems that the attempt to stop same-sex marriage is futile, and I do not see how it could be stopped from becoming an American constitutional right. Although most point to Biblical scripture as the reason for their opposition, we were not a theocracy but a constitutional republic. The American Constitution clearly defines a separation between church and state. Furthermore, Section 1 of the 14th Amendment states “…No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” In modern context, that could easily include the right of marriage.

Think back 50 to 100 years ago. Even though this amendment existed, in many states it was illegal for two people of different races to get married. Now, after an Officer of the Peace in Louisiana recently denied an interracial couple a marriage license, most Americans would be furious if someone tried to argue that the couple’s 14th Amendment rights were not violated.

Since it would be unconstitutional to argue that one group is not covered by the Constitution and one is, it seems that same-sex marriage is in our future.
Some obvious questions still exist: Why do you care if two people you don’t even know of the same-sex want to marry each other? How exactly would this affect your personal life?

Some may worry that their church may be forced into recognizing these marriages. This fear is unfounded. The separation of church and state works both ways; other than laws like not killing the parishioners, and abiding to building codes, the state has no business in the affairs of the church.
Some may worry that allowing same-sex couples to marry would hurt the sanctity of marriage, since Americans are all about upholding the sanctity of marriage. That is why 1 in 2 marriages end in divorce, and (according to the Kinsey Institute) 50% of men and 26% of women have engaged in extramarital sex at least once, and Britney Spears’ 72-hour just for fun marriage is allowed to happen.

I am not saying that marriage should not be respected. What I am arguing is that when so many do not respect the love and commitment that corresponds with marriage; why not allow marriage to a group that does?

History shows us that there are two groups of people: those who further social progress and others who hinder it. Those who have hindered it have been vilified by textbooks, while those who bring about social change are considered heroes.

It’s simply a matter of time before gay marriage becomes commonplace in the United States. So why fight against this unavoidable change when it’s sociologically bound to happen.