BUT. I thought I should say something.
So unless you are living under a rock, you probably know that North Carolina's state constitution was revised earlier this week to legally ban gay marriage. President Obama has spoken out in favor of gay marriage as have countless other people, from celebrities to Youtube Stars; this is a topic of much discussion.
And just so that we're clear, I am totally completely for Gay rights and I think that they should most definitely be allowed to marry in the United States, a place that prides itself on supposed equality. And after all, "Who am I to get in the way of true love?"
One thing that I would like to add to the discussion(because I'm still in finals mode) is that homophobia is a contrived notion. In lieu of my Greek Tragedy final I would like to point out the system of pederasty in Ancient Greece. When a young man(called an ephebe) was coming of age, he would be put into a homoerotic relationship with an older man and in return, the older man would exchange "knowledge" about life and the universe. This system was considered the highest form of love and was lauded by many different playwrights from Socrates to Aristophanes and Plato. This homosexual relationship was deemed the purest form of human relationships and ennobled because of the flow of knowledge between men.
So yeah. That's something to think about. And also worth noting, there are a gagillion poems by Sappho extolling the virtues of lesbian love.
I think that the take home point from this whole debate is that marriage exists in a religious sphere and a legal sphere. And in the US, we are all citizens protected by national law. There is a lot of tension at the moment between national and state law. I happen to think that marriage is a basic human right, and as such should be protected under national law.
Anyways, I know that wasn't like a brilliant revelation or anything but I got excited that something I learned in the classroom was pertinent to today's news.
Best Wishes.
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