I think so....Can the campaign for same-sex marriage be compared to the struggle of african-americans for equal rights?
No, nothing like.
in some ways yes.
The conditions of each struggle hold very little actual identical comparisons. Yes, some homosexuals have been murdered, etc., simply because they are gay. The pain and suffering between the two groups cannot be seriously compared.
The resemblance does not lie in the amount of suffering or discrimination that has occurred. The devil hides in the details of discrimination itself, not the historical acts that display the level of each discrimination. It's easier to compare interracial marriage to gay marriage, so let's go that route. Here are the comparisons:
1) In 1958 the very first Gallup poll ever conducted showed that 94% of whites in the U.S. were opposed to interracial marriage. The majority of the opposition cited religious reasons for their disapproval. In 1959 the Lovings, an interracial couple in Virginia, were sentenced to a year in prison for daring to marry. This led to a decision in 1967: Loving vs. Virginia, in which the USSC ruled all antimiscegenation laws unconstitutional.
2) As with the issue of interracial marriage, it can be noted that desegregation was opposed by Bible toting marchers who displayed scripture on their placards right next to racist slurs and hate slogans against blacks.
3) The main opposition to gay marriage stems mainly from religious quarters, using the Bible to sustain their prejudice, just as they did toward interracial marriage and desegregation.
These comparisons have one main common ingredient. The opposition to civil rights progress had, and has now as well, religion at its root. Here are some interesting quotes from Coretta Scott King, regarding the civil rights of homosexuals:
';Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood,'; King stated. ';This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group.'; - Chicago Defender, April 1, 1998, front page.
Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement,'; she said. ';Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions.'; - Chicago Tribune, April 1, 1998, sec.2, p.4.
Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation is surely a fundamental human right in any great democracy, as much as freedom from racial, religious, gender, or ethnic discrimination. - Coretta Scott King, remarks, Opening Plenary Session, 13th annual Creating Change conference of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Atlanta, Georgia, November 9, 2000.
“I have worked too long and hard against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concern. Justice is indivisible.” Like Martin, I don’t believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others...The great promise of American democracy is that no group of people will be forced to suffer discrimination and injustice. - Coretta Scott King, remarks, press conference on the introduction of ENDA, Washington, DC, June 23, 1994.
Absolutely not.
There's nothing illegal about being black. In the majority of states, same-sex marriages are illegal.
There's nothing in the Bible that says it's a sin to be black. Homosexuality is a sin.
The two are as opposite as can be.
yes it can. many have said gya is the new black. the discrimination, ect.
the arguments against gay marriage are paraphrased arugment of legalizing interracial marriage (1970s)
go to religious tolerance.org
they have pro and con arugments. including ones where they compare the struggle of black rights to gay right.
On some levels. It is funny that it is 2007 and people still have to fight for rights.
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