Love is Love

Marriage is defined as is a socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between them, between them and their children, and between them and their in-laws. Traditionally, a marriage is thought to be between a man and a woman, but as times change, more and more people are beginning to fight for the rights of homosexuals, bisexuals, transgenders, and any others who don't fall into the category of "straight."  However, there is a lot of backlash from people who don't support the movement.  These people either feel that this nontraditional union ruins the sanctity of marriage, have conflicting religious views,  or just view gay marriage as unnatural.  Obviously, opponents of gay marriage are heterosexual and are unable to empathize with the LGBT+ community.  In our own nation, 32 states have legalized gay marriage, which is huge step in the right direction!

Although many social liberals in the United States are frustrated that gay marriage is not totally legal yet, we are way ahead of the game in comparison to other nations around the world.  As more and more states in America begin to legalize LGBT+ marriages, other nations are still punishing, and even killing, homosexuals solely because of their sexuality.  For example, Putin and the Russian government have a law in review that would allow children of gay and lesbian couples to be taken away from them.  Members of the LGBT+ community in Russian cities, such as Arkhangelsk and Ryazan, have had to live their lives around that national ban against "propaganda of nontraditional relations."  Many have joined youth groups and advocacy groups, but they know they are still vulnerable.  The citizens realize that they are the majority, and that many people are supporters of nontraditional marriage, however the government (even though its members have the minority opinion) is far more powerful than the citizens.  While the local media in these two cities have shown homosexuals unexpected support, the government-controlled national media is persistently inhospitable toward the movement of equality.  This may stem from the fact that Russia and the Western world have always been competing for the title of "global superpower," so Russian lawmakers want to be as different as possible from the United States.  

The debate of gay marriage was brought to the globe's attention during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Many nations around the world threatened to boycott and skip out on the games due to all of the anti-gay propaganda that Putin was delivering. Although the games did end up occurring with all of the intended nations, many interest groups have contacted the International Olympics Committee (IOC), demanding that the games are to never be held in a discriminatory nation in the future. The Olympic Charter protects the rights of all athletes, coaches, and spectators, but it cannot interfere with the implemented governmental system of the host nation (in this case, Russia). However, International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach explicitly stated prior to the games that humans all over the world could count on the group to “ensure that the Charter is fully applied at the Olympic Games and is fully accepted at all venues for all participants from athletes and officials to media and spectators.”  This event became a worldwide controversy, and really shed light on how torn the globe is on this issue.

Nigeria, Egypt, and Uganda are also taking extreme measures to sanitize themselves of homosexuality. Many people are being incriminated and getting thrown into jail because of their sexual orientation. Africa as a whole is struggling to catch up with the rest of the world, and is treating gay marriage very harshly.  The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, is not taking this issue lightly now that Ugandan scientists have ruled that homosexuality is a completely social behavior.  Nicholas Kristof takes a medical standpoint on the matter and issued a letter to health officials which stated multiple reasons to persuade the president to reconsider.  He rebuttals the idea that homosexuality is strictly social, and compares homosexuality to race, height, and other similar characteristics. These characteristics do not have one assigned gene that determines the trait; instead, multiple different genes work complexly to determine what each trait will become.  Kristof speculates that homosexuality falls into this category of ambiguous traits.  He reassures the medical professionals that homosexuality is found in every culture, and can also be influenced by environmental factors.  He closes the letter by reminding the recipients that the vulnerable need to protected and that further research needs to be done before any legislation is passed.

One of the most frustrating arguments against gay marriage is that it ruins the sanctity of marriage due to a lack of religious meaning.  In today's society, the religious affiliation that is "supposed" to go with marriage is lacking and rapidly diminishing.  More and more couples are getting married outside of religious buildings.  Marriage is becoming more of a social event, and with religion slowly being removed from the picture, there really is no argument.  Furthermore, heterosexual spouses are just as likely to destroy the sanctity of marriage through cheating and divorce.  In fact, gay couples are likely to be together longer before getting married, resulting in a lower divorce rate.  From a religious standpoint, opponents argue that gay marriage takes away from the true purpose of marriage, which is to procreate.  However, there are many heterosexual couples that end up putting their children up for adoption because they are unwilling or unable to take care of them.  Through the legalization of gay marriage, more children will be able to have a stable home environment with loving parents rather than having to grow up in foster care with a constant change.  Furthermore, the Bible promotes social change.  In Matthew 5:7, “Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”  This metaphor is basically saying that change is necessary for society to grow, and old societal norms can be detrimental to human development.  

With Liberty and Justice for Some

Meet Jose Zamora. Jose electronically applied for any job he felt qualified everyday, adding up to anywhere from 50 to 100 applications per day. Unfortunately, Jose never heard back from any companies, and uploading resumes with no response became a routine.  After this disappointing routine began to take over his life, he decided to take the "s" out of his name on his resume, therefore becoming "Joe Zamora."  Within a week, all of the companies he applied to with the name change got in contact with him and offered him an interview.  

What Jose did was "whitewash" his resume. All he had to do was make his name sound more Caucasian - he didn't edit a single thing on the resume itself.  According to recent studies, white applicants get 50% more callbacks from employers than Latino or African American applicants.  This is a huge gap, and companies both consciously and subconsciously discriminate against potential applicants solely based on the ethnicity the employer associates with the name on the resume.  Unfortunately, Jose is not the only person to change their identity in order to get a job.  Besides changing their names, minorities have had to rearrange their previous experiences so black employers were not listed first.  Furthermore, people who have attended historically black colleges have had to remove that portion of their education off of their resume for a chance at a job.  Of the people interviewed for the article, one woman was afraid of the message she was sending to her children by "whitening" her resume and not embracing her background.  This is startling based on the fact that affirmative action has been implemented to ensure that discrimination would cease in the work place.

Affirmative action was implemented by by President Kennedy in 1961 during the Civil Rights movement.  He stated that the point of affirmative action was, "to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." Affirmative action policies often focus on employment and education, which is why the need for "whitewashing" is disturbing.   However, more and more organizations are replacing affirmative action programs with diversity programs.  A lot of these diversity programs are ineffective; therefore, minority applicants and employees are experiencing backlash and discrimination based on their race and ethnic backgrounds.

There is cultural diversity all over the United States; in fact, my generation is the most culturally diverse group of people to date.  People in my parents' generation are less likely to identify themselves as every background they are a part of; instead, they identify with the one that resonates with them the most.  This may stem from the fact that from 1970-2000, people were only allowed to select one race on the census, making them feel "locked in" to that one specific race.  However, things are much different now.  Not only are college campuses full of diversity, but now cultural diffusion occurs in areas such as politics, business, and sports.  Interracial relationships are no longer a taboo in society; they are very common.  Sadly, interracial people and relationships still receive backlash.  One young man reported his family constantly asking him, "Why don't you date a Hispanic girl?" when he brought an African American girl home.  Another young man stated that because he was always being tug-of-warred by both sides of his family to choose a side, he had no desire to identify with any race.

I have a very strong reaction to this.  It is 2014.  People should be able to live their lives how they want without judgment.  People should not be penalized for something they have no control over, such as their race or ethnic background.  Instead, they should be able to celebrate life and their diversity.  It is disturbing that people have very limited and restricted opportunities because of who they are, so much so that they need to change themselves in order to find acceptance.  We are all people.  There is no reason for dominant and oppressed groups to exist.  We are all the same species, and we are all given the same chance at life.  Haile Selassie, who was the Emperor of Ethiopia for 58 years during the 20th century, stated, “This world was not created piecemeal. Africa was born no later and no earlier than any other geographical area on this globe. Africans, no more and no less than other men, possess all human attributes, talents and deficiencies, virtues and faults.” This eye-opening quote, along with the work of many advocates for racial equality, show the hunger for acceptance that these people want.