The Supreme Court announced Monday that it would not hear any cases on same-sex marriage, including Utah’s. This decision not to decide means the lower courts’ rulings stand, and gay couples can now marry in Utah and other states covered by those courts.
Though some believe that this is not the last we will see of the controversy, it does mark a huge stepping stone in the right direction. These are moments that will be in history books.
Homosexuality is a subject that has been globally frowned upon and kept secret. People have always been shy to talk about the matter because of the punishments that were once associated with it.
Lawmakers in Utah are trying to sidestep this issue. In this state, the laws on union are not titled “marriage” but rather “husband and wife.” Now that we are making progress in getting rid of these titles, the legislation will need to reword the statutes.
In the same vein, lawmakers are also hoping to work around the idea of marriage itself. Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Heber City, would like to call the act of same-sex unions a “pairage” instead. This seems like a slap in the face when we are working towards equality in the rest of the country.
Legally, we have taken leaps and bounds this past year in the way of marriage equality. Socially, we still have a lot of work to do. Not everyone we meet will have the same beliefs, goals or orientation and humans still have a lot of growing up to do.
The cultural impact of litigated acceptance will take more time. Not everyone will be on board overnight, but the culture will certainly shift in time.
Not everyone is going to be happy about these decisions. Even among The Signpost staff, we see some differences of opinion popping up about what we believe are the right decisions.
All of us are hoping to see some action on campus. Clearly, our Signpost view does not reflect everyone on campus. Do you, the students, agree with these decisions? Have you spoken up about it?
The more we talk about this issue, the more we will get a grasp of all the opinions. We will get the ideas flowing, both good and bad. With issues as large as this one, we need to express ourselves to make our voices matter. On campus we expect to see debates, protests and rallies.
And though this may seem bad, we highly encourage it. We want to talk about the issue. Someday, we will come to a comfortable conclusion that everyone is happy with, because we have all taken part in contributing our opinions. From then on, we can move toward the improvement of our nation, our state and our campus.
For now, we love to see the celebrations of happiness over this victory. This is a joyous occasion, not only for the LGBT community, but for all of their friends and families who are supporting the cause as well.
This is a win for love.
