The city of West Hollywood has decided to permanently install a plaque commemorating the historic, if not brief, issuing of marriage licenses to homosexual couples from June to November 2008. What is particularly striking however, is the fact that this plaque bears the words of former South African president Nelson Mandela: “I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.”
While I understand that many people may feel that not allowing homosexual couples to “marry” may be inconvenient, I can not understand as to how this quote even remotely describes the situation of homosexuals seeking to have civil unions labeled as “marriage.” Nelson Mandela was a political prisoner who was abused, rejected, exiled, and reviled for being black. Mandela was imprisoned for even speaking about equality and the end of Apartheid. Last time I checked, homosexuals are not rejected, exiled, or reviled for being homosexual. And the last time I checked, homosexuals and gay-rights activists are as vocal as ever about their desire for equality. Moreover, I would say that those who oppose gay marriage are the ones who are abused, rejected, lambasted, and reviled in our community.
Again, while I understand that the people of West Hollywood and some – let’s be honest, only some – people favor gay marriage, let’s not go overboard here; to compare the plight of homosexuals to Apartheid would be foolish if not outright offensive to those who actually suffered injustice at the hands of evildoers.
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