Column by Zachary Kiser

Everyone has an issue that they are passionate about. We all take stands on a variety of issues, but there is always that select cause or topic that we find comfort in. Ever since I began writing for the Kernel last fall, I have tried to keep the personal topics I feel strongly about out of my columns. Instead I opted to write about topics that were more campus centralized and issues that were large on a national scale. That resolve is now broken and the floodgates are open; here is my special issue.

America is purportedly the epitome of freedom and equality in the modern world. People try every day through legal and illegal means to enter the country so they can partake of said freedom and opportunity. Yet even in this cornucopia of freedom and equality, one minority group is still systematically discriminated against by almost every major private and public group. One group is still pushed to the fringes of society. This group is demonized by their detractors, so as to portray them as inhuman, immoral monsters. The group I am speaking of is the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT).

Though LGBT civil rights have progressed tremendously since the Stonewall Riots of 1969, and the discriminatory sodomy laws of the 20th century; there is still much work to be done. LGBT people are still not afforded equal protection under law in areas such as marriage, job security, and adoption rights. Every election cycle, laws are passed that further discriminate against the LGBT community and its members. I could fill the rest of this column with a laundry list of injustices that have been brought down on the LGBT community, but that has been done before; instead we should examine the justification for such laws.

Is there any reason why a loving LGBT couple should not be allowed to marry or at least to be afforded the same rights and protections under the law as a heterosexual couple? I have posed this question to countless LGBT rights detractors over the years and they give me the same basic answer: the Bible, the Quran, or any other religious scripture. I realize that a plethora of people draw their morals and scruples from the Bible and the scriptures contained within its covers, but this isn’t an acceptable justification as the basis for the discrimination against millions. How can those people who portray themselves as the humblest of the humble and meekest of the meek force their moral code upon society without being hypocritical? Children go to bed cold, dirty and hungry all over the world every night, and these people are worried about who the guy down the road sleeps with and marries.

I believe our society has advanced to the point to where we can draw our morality not from biased religious texts but from what works best in our society. Morality should seek to create a harmonious society for all those living in it, not just for the people who wear a cross on their necks, pray to Allah or follow any other exclusivist religion. I urge Americans to move forward and create an atmosphere of equality and morality that protects and encompasses all of our citizens, so that we can have a better tomorrow.