A person can hear interesting things inside the classrooms at JHS. A few weeks ago I was taking a pass from the guidance office to a room in the building and overheard bits and pieces of a very loud discussion. Most of the time, runners pick up on various bits of conversations inside of classrooms, but none of it usually makes a big enough impression for it to mean anything. Then there are those select few conversations that make big enough of an impact for it to matter, whether it is in a good way or a bad way. Unfortunately, this conversation was anything but good.
In this classroom (I won’t mention the hour or room), there was a debate about whether or not same-sex couples should even be allowed to be together, let alone get married and have a life together. One male asked a female in the classroom if she supported gay marriage. The female replied that yes, she did in fact support gay marriage. The male who asked the question told her, “You must be gay to support gay marriage.”
What was the worst thing about this entire exchange? This was a classroom full of juniors and seniors, students on the verge of entering a closed-minded world that could benefit greatly from the open-mindedness of our generation.
People are entitled to their own opinions on anything, including gay marriage, but that doesn’t make it right to put people down for their own beliefs. Besides the fact that assuming that someone who supports gay marriage is automatically gay, which is a completely illogical and invalid point, it is also degrading to the person who is only supporting what he or she believes in. What difference should it make if two people love each other and make each other happy? Do you see people sneering at you because you aren’t gay? Straight people support gay marriage, me included. It’s time for society to get out of the dark ages and move into the 21st century.
Based on a survey conducted at the Williams Institute, approximately 3.5-5% of the American population identify themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Using these numbers, there are approximately 33-48 gay, lesbian, or bisexual students at JHS and odds are that you know at least one of them, even if you don’t know what his or her sexual orientation is.
According to The Washington Post, 58% of the American public supports same-sex marriage (or about 551 JHS students) while 36% (or about 342 JHS students) are opposed to them. Based on those numbers, the people that are opposed to same-sex marriages are the odd ones out, not the ones that support them.
In short, if you don’t want people to judge you based on your beliefs, then don’t judge them for what they believe. One day you might find yourself with a gay child, best friend, coworker, etc., and then how will you act? What does it matter to you if two people who love each other get married, regardless of their genders?
I am a straight person who is proud to be friends with a bisexual person and who has a lesbian cousin, and I proudly support gay marriage.