WaPost, DES MOINES, Iowa -- A minister married two men outside an Iowa home Friday morning, sealing the state's first legal same-sex wedding. Less than 24 hours earlier, a judge had thrown out Iowa's ban on gay marriage.I've always thought the courts should recognize gays' Constitutional right to marry. It's makes sense that our government should provide gays the same legal protections that others receive, without discrimination. This is also a protection for the many children of gays, who need to clarify their legal relationship and rights with respect to both gays parents.
The Rev. Mark Stringer married college students Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan.
"This is it. We're married. I love you," Fritz told McQuillan after the ceremony on the front lawn of Stringer's house in Des Moines.
In addition, allowing gays to marry makes good practical sense. One way to keep gay men from hitting on straight men is for gay men to marry each other and be out of the dating game entirely. The same holds true for gay women, as well.
Take the case of Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga (MAMZ), for example. He says he felt "inherently uncomfortable" to bunk in the military alongside gays who might be looking at his underpants. This new ruling should make people like Markos Moulitsas to feel much more comfortable. Because, if the gay people in the military are married, people like Markos who are preocupied with gay sex can be reassured that many gay bunkmates will have maritial commitments that morally preclude their involvement with heterosexuals. If a gay man hits on Markos, Markos can just say, "But, Bob, you're a married man!"
This ruling also helps Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga in another way: If he suddenly decides/discovers that he is gay (which is something gay people have already been speculating about) then Moulitsas will be free to love and marry another gay man, without suffering the discrimination against gays that he advocated in the past.
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