After years of empty promises and political wrangling, New York State will finally allow gay couples to exchange nuptials in a move that’s welcome and long overdue.
I’m surprised that it passed, but honestly I’m way more surprised about the reaction of “it’s a sad day” and other nasty and stupid comments from people I know. This is a great day, and should harden our resolve to do even more to further the idea of liberty and freedom.
It’s my position, and that of many libertarians, that the state should have no interest in marriage whatsoever. It shouldn’t promote it, reward it, or offer special privileges to the people who choose to engage in it. If you want to pick a person to spend the rest of your life with, hurray for you and have a good one! The state (and by the state, I mean the government) should have no interest whatsoever in whether or not you do so and should provide you no special privileges for it.
Ideally, in my perfect world, there would be no marriage taxes or penalties, and no special benefits for marriage. It would be treated just like any other private contract between individuals, and those choosing to get married would be responsible for enforcing their own agreements. Adultery would no longer be treated as anything but a contract issue, and property ownership and disputes could be settled in the courts as a violation of contracts. Essentially, the state would be out of the “marriage business.” If any politician from either party ran on a platform of abolishing state recognition of marriage as anything other than a contract between individuals for mutual benefit, I’d vote for them immediately.
That, however, is never going to happen.
Seeing as it won’t, the next best thing is for the states to pass it so that marriage is equally allowed to anyone who wants to engage in it. Barring the idiotic slippery slope arguments of “now I can marry my dog” or “I can have a 13 year old wife I want one,” this is the only other viable solution that fits constitutionally into our government. States have the “police power” and, unlike the federal government, have an open-ended license to pass their own laws and decide how to enforce them. The federal government’s powers are extremely limited under Article I Section 8 of the constitution, and seeing as marriage is not one of them, a bill that recognizes or refuses to recognize gay marriage (such as the Defense of Marriage Act) probably wouldn’t pass constitutional muster.
In New York State, and in other states, the federal system is proving to be exactly what it was supposed to be. Local governments making decisions for their people, not the federal government making one decision for the entire country. If you want gay marriage, it’s available. If you don’t, you can either not participate, or move.
There are many arguments against gay marriage, none of which pass the sniff test. Whether it’s the tried and true favorites of “homosexuality is a disorder” to “I like gays, but marriage is between a man and a woman” to “God created blah blah blah,” none of those arguments are rooted in anything but religion. I would rather the state (and by the state, I mean the government either local, state, or federal) not legislate morality and religion. There are documents that define how the government may and may not act and the bible is not one of them. If it were, we would all be eating Kosher food, wearing unblended materials, and burning our pets on an alter to please the Lord. If that’s not your intention, then kindly leave your quoting of Leviticus out of it and let government be government while church is church.
I’m proud today. I’m proud not because we suddenly have something we should’ve had years ago, but I’m proud that the state essentially came together across party lines and realized that there are only two valid conclusions to the gay marriage question: either legalize it for everyone or stop recognizing it for everyone. Seeing as the second one is not a possibility, the first is the next best thing.
Congratulations to the gay community in New York State, and I’m really sorry it took so long. I look forward to coming to your weddings if you’ll have me.