Why I support Gay Marriage

For a few years now I have been quite close to being a gay marriage advocate. I not only tolerate gay people, I embrace them. I'm as far away from being homophobe as physically possible and I'm also very proud of that. Needless to say, the Homophobia I am surrounded with living in Egypt is one of the main reasons I cannot see myself staying here. I refrained from writing a blog about Homophobia before because I never felt entitled to take a stance in a debate that I am not involved in. I'm neither gay nor religious so I thought I didn't get either side of the gay marriage controversy. However, I've known for a long time now that I was wrong about that. The fact I'm neither of these things and still feel an overwhelming tendency towards one side tells me it's probably the right one.

In the early days of engaging with this topic I was, much like President Obama, on the fence about gay marriage. I didn't see why it had to be "marriage" they had to call it when they were entering a union. The biblical definition of marriage called for a mixed gender couple and I thought that was fair enough. Engaging with the topic for longer than ten minutes however made me realize that the Bible also calls for my personal rights as a woman to be completely different from the ones I'm executing and appreciating. Times do change and usually our society has accepted that medieval practices are necessary to change, even if they are not in accordance with scripture. At no point in my life have I been a particularly bible proof Christian therefore having little understanding for causing any kind of policy decision to be based on the word. Initially I had to come to realize though that I simply don't agree with the definition of homosexuality in a biblical sense which makes my view on gay marriage differentiate from the one the church has.

The most basic question is whether homosexuality is a matter of nurture or nature. If the church is correct then homosexuals have a choice and could simply change their mind if they want marriage so bad and go for a partner of the opposite sex. That's where they lost me. To me, homosexuals are neither sick nor in need of change and if they love someone of their own sex I see no reason for them to do anything about them. Granted, they could just call gay marriage a name that is not the word marriage but, then again, why? That would imply that they chose to be gay and hence gave up their right to get married. Since I believe it's their nature and nothing made them gay, for example Satan, why would I advocate for them to not have the same right as everybody else? Especially since the definition of family has also changed.

The biblical definition of a family calls for couples to unite in marriage to have a family. News flash: even gay couples can do that. So next time a straight person is infertile they will be denied marriage? Didn't think so. My marriage to a man will not change in the slightest if my gay friends get to do the same thing. Quite the contrary actually. The fact that I come from a country that had made efforts for equality makes me proud. First women needed to be equal. Nowadays nobody would even think of stripping women of their right to vote in Germany. With gay marriage it will sooner or later be the same thing. Discrimination has always been a thing but it's going to die as we all increasingly become more like each other in the next decades.

Most significantly, this debate is the sole reason why I abandoned religion. The rejection of homosexuality in all religions alienated me from it, not just my own. I thought love was the universal message of religion, yet many people are telling homosexuals who to love, quoting religion as the inspiration for such audacity. For anyone to make an assumption about homosexuality without being homosexual is intolerable and denying them equality is an act of hate. Especially in this country where gay people have virtually no legitimacy I shudder at the hypocrisy of all of these people displaying their religiosity all over the place. They all preach love and would call out gay people as sinners who are going to hell in the same sentence. Religious people do that with far more people than just homosexuals but it is initially the reason I find it impossible to associate with it. All I really remember from the Bible is the command to love my neighbor, and I intend to do so which is why I want them to enjoy everything I was lucky enough to have. And that is equality. For everyone.