I was introduced to The Beatles at a very young age. Among the 200-plus songs they performed, one song tends to come back to me during the legalization of gay marriage, “All You Need is Love.”
Utah is currently infamous for fighting federal court on its ruling to cease the ban on gay marriage in Utah. On Dec. 20, 2013 the ban was lifted and around 1,300 couples were married during the 17 days before Gov. Gary R. Herbert filed suit against the federal court and a stay was issued.
The stay means that Utah can return to its old ways of ignoring gay marriage, but the federal court will recognize the marriages that were performed in those 17 days. The Utah State Tax Commission has decided that same-sex marriages are eligible for joint state income tax returns.
The country has currently legalized gay marriage in 17 states with several other states offering same-sex unions. This means that in 10 years since gay marriage was legalized in Massachusetts, half the country still has not followed.
It’s simple for us to say this is not our issue, because we’re not gay, but it’s much more complicated than that.
Imagine not being able to love your significant other for a reason you can’t control. What if marriage was illegal for individuals shorter than six feet? Go back to a time when it was frowned upon to marry based on the color of your skin.
Being gay is not a factor that individuals can control. Love is powerful, and when someone is told he or she cannot express that love, life can be hard for that person. At that point, support from friends and family is crucial.
Sometimes loving a certain person can be stressful because of outside influences, but giving up is not the answer. We can’t help who we love. We need to take a walk in homosexual’s shoes and see what it feels like to be judged because of who you love.
People can reach out to same-sex couples, even when the state refuses to. We can support same-sex marriage and give our voice by calling our representatives and voting.
In the words of The Beatles, “the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
